Any expense that is considered a deductible medical expense by the Internal Revenue Service and is not reimbursed through your insurance can be reimbursed through the Flexible Spending Account. Examples include:
- Fees paid to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and Christian Science practitioners
- Contact lenses and eyeglasses
- Fees for hospital services, qualified long-term care services, accident and health, and qualified long-term care insurance premiums, nursing services, laboratory fees, prescription medicines, drugs, and insulin.
- Acupuncture treatments
- In-patient treatment at a center for alcohol or drug addiction
- Smoking-cessation programs and prescribed drugs to help nicotine withdrawal
- False teeth, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs, and guide dogs for the blind or deaf (And more. Read over your FSA benefit documentation to make sure you know what is and isn't covered. Keep receipts for everything you spend that you plan to seek reimbursement for later.)
All the money set aside in an FSA generally must be used by the end of the plan year. However, a plan can offer a grace period of up to two-and-a-half months to finish using that funding.
When the year ends or the grace period expires, any funds that remain in the FSA are lost. Thus, your employees should carefully calibrate the amount of money they plan to put into the FSA account and how they intend to spend it over the course of the year.
Setting up an account is another employee perk that will keep existing staff in the company's favor and help attract top talent later. Although these employer benefit plans can sometimes be confusing, we can help plan this better for you and your organization. Connect with us to know more!
