Updated. Here’s my annual reminder to get back all the money you put into your Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts (and other such accounts) before the end of the year. First, here are some possible exceptions:
- Some plans allow a grace period until March 15th of the following year as opposed to a December 31st deadline to use your 2017 funds, but it may only apply to claims and not late purchases. Check with your employer.
- Some plans allow participants to carry over up to $500 in unused FSA funds into next year. Check with your employer.
What are FSA-eligible expenses? Here are the large, well-organized lists:
- Common Eligible Health Care Expenses by PayFlex, an affiliate of Aetna.
- Detailed Expenses Guide for FSA Benefits [PDF] Conexis a a large FSA administrator.
- HSA Bank Common Eligibility List [pdf]
- WageWorks Healthcare FSA Eligible Expenses Table (searchable)
Quick tip. Certain over-the-counter (OTC) items such as cough medicines, pain relievers, acid controllers, and diaper rash ointment require a prescription for reimbursement. In addition to the written prescription for the OTC medicine, you should obtain a detailed receipt that includes the following:
- Date of service or purchase
- Name or description of the item
- Amount of purchase
Last-minute FSA-eligible items. If you didn’t exhaust your funds with insurance copays or deductibles, here are eligible items that you can still buy over-the-counter without a prescription. Examples included are the best-sellers in each category at Amazon.
- Eye care (prescription glasses, prescription sunglasses, contact lenses, solution, drops). Ex. Opti-Free Contact Lens Solution
- First aid supplies (bandages, gauze, tape) for emergency kits. Ex. Band-Aid Brand Variety Pack, 280 Count
- Wheelchairs, walkers, & canes. Ex. Drive Medical Four Wheel Rollator Walker
- Family planning products (condoms, birth control, pregnancy tests). Ex. Trojan Condom ENZ Lubricated, 36 Count
- Home testing aids (blood pressure, diabetes, thermometers). Ex. Omron 10 Series Wireless Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor
- Sunscreen and sunblock (SPF 15+ broad spectrum). Ex. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 45
- Defibrillators (AEDs). Ex. Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator (AED)
Finally, only your FSA administrator can provide you with the exact guidelines for reimbursement according to your plan. I learned this the hard way when our FSA administrator switched one year from in-house to Conexis. Wow, Conexis was a pain in the butt. So many hurdles and rejections without good explanations. I had to submit some claims three times before finally getting approved. If you count the time wasted, I probably lost money by participating in the FSA at all. The other employees in the company must have also complained so much that the very next year, FSA reimbursement was again managed in-house.
Hear, hear. It is so time-consuming I consider not using it in 2017.
Happy New Year, 2016!!!
FSAFeds recently switched massages as only being eligible with a doctors note to being eligible without one. This is a pretty major change, do you know if this is true for all FSAs? I tried searching for an explanation but came up with nothing.
With the rise of HSA’s as the preferred option by employers, I’d be curious to know how many people still participate in healthcare FSA’s. (You aren’t allowed to participate in FSA if you have HSA.)
It is a PITA for sure but the tax savings can’t be ignored. Here’s a tip if a bit short at year end, buy contact lens solution and reader glasses at Costco (roughly $20 each per package) and return what you don’t need after photocopying the receipt for the FSA.
As noted by prior comment on rise if HSAs, an additional important caveat is that if your plan allows your FSA balance to carry over into the first several months of the next plan year, this does not apply if you are switching to a plan with an HSA in lieu of an FSA. If you do not empty our your FSA on or before 12/31 then you will be barred from contributing anything to your HSA (and your employer will be barred from making a contribution to the HSA if they do so) until after the last date that the carryover FSA funds could be used (i.e., generally March 15) – I suspect that given the HSA can’t be funded that you would then be able to use the carryover FSA funds during this period, but not certain on this.
Jonathan, please let me know your thoughts on below: American Jubilee
Tbh, that link seems low-quality. Please send future off-topic comments via contact form:
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/contact-me/