Flexible Spending Accounts

Overview

Children’s Mercy provides FSAs that allow you to set aside money from your paycheck before taxes to pay for eligible expenses.

A Health Care FSA reimburses you for eligible health care expenses not covered by your health plans. The Health Care FSA is available for Gold Plan and Blue Plan members only. If you elect the Green Plan, you will be eligible for a Limited Purpose Health Care FSA. Read more below about both accounts.
A Dependent Day Care FSA reimburses you for eligible dependent day care expenses.

HEALTH CARE AND LIMITED PURPOSE HEALTH CARE FSA OVERVIEW

You may contribute up to $2,750 in the 2021–2022 plan year to reimburse yourself for eligible health care expenses. Funds can be used to pay for expenses of any of your dependents – even if they are not covered through your medical plan – as long as they are considered eligible dependents and are not a dependent on any other individual’s tax return.

Click here to view the list of eligible FSA expenses.

If you make contributions to a Health Care FSA, the law prevents your spouse from contributing to a Health Savings Account (HSA) through his or her employer.

Review the side-by-side comparison below to understand what FSA you’re eligible for based on your medical plan.

	HEALTH CARE FSA (APPLICABLE FOR THE GOLD PLAN AND BLUE PLAN AND WORKS WITH THE HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (HRA))	LIMITED PURPOSE HEALTH CARE FSA (APPLICABLE FOR THE GREEN PLAN AND WORKS WITH THE HSA)
Who contributes?	You	You
What can I use my account for?	Eligible expenses not paid for by your health coverage, including: Deductible (not paid for by your HRA) Coinsurance Certain services not covered by your medical plan Prescription drugs Dental, vision and hearing aid expenses Over-the-counter medication	Eligible dental and vision expenses only
What happens at the end of the plan year?	The plan year ends on June 30. From July 1 through Sept. 15 of the next plan year, you can incur expenses and use any remaining money in your Health Care FSA. This is called the grace period. Any remaining money after the grace period is forfeited. Oct. 31 is the final day to submit claims incurred from July 1 through Sept. 15
How do I use it to pay for care?	Use your Wex FSA debit card to pay for eligible expenses. Request reimbursement for an eligible out-of-pocket expense. Log in to your WEX account and click on “File a Claim”. You will submit an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from Cigna or a receipt showing the name of the provider, date of service, type of service and amount. If you receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from Cigna showing you owe an amount, you can decide to use your HRA, Health Care FSA, or pay with a personal credit card.

If you newly enroll in an FSA or Limited Purpose FSA for the 2021–2022 plan year, you will receive a debit card from WEX (previously called Discovery Benefits), and all payroll contributions will be deposited into the applicable FSA with WEX.

If you are currently enrolled in an FSA, you will continue to use your existing FSA debit card into the new plan year, whether you enroll in the FSA or the Limited Purpose FSA.

If you need a replacement card or additional cards, you can request them from WEX.

Note: To be eligible to contribute to an HSA, you must not be enrolled in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or have a balance in any open FSA plan year or grace period. If you have any balance in your FSA account on July 1, 2021, you are not eligible to contribute to the HSA until the first of the month following the grace period, or Oct. 1, 2021.

DEPENDENT DAY CARE FSA OVERVIEW

You may contribute up to $5,000 in the 2021–2022 plan year to reimburse yourself for eligible dependent day care expenses. Eligible dependents include:

Your children ages 12 and younger;
Older children who live with you at least eight hours per day who are physically or mentally incapable of self-care and depend on you for support; and
A disabled parent or spouse who lives with you and requires care while you work.

Eligible day care expenses include care provided in your home, a neighbor’s home (with fewer than six children in day care in the home), a relative’s home (if the relative is not your dependent) or a licensed day care facility. Any change in your dependent day care costs allows you to change your Dependent Day Care FSA contribution amount.

Note: Highly Compensated Employees (HCEs) may be limited in the amount they can contribute due to nondiscrimination requirements. Affected HCEs will be notified in the event of a required reduction to dependent care FSA contributions.

Submit a claim by visiting www.wexinc.com. Once you log in, click File a Claim in the I Want To section and follow the steps on the interactive claim form. Then select Add Claim, agree to the Terms and Conditions and select Submit. You will receive confirmation that your claim was submitted. Your claim will be processed in two business days.

Be prepared to submit receipts to confirm your claims. If receipts are not received by the communicated deadline, your debit card will become inactive.

CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE YOU ENROLL IN AN FSA

With the “use it or lose it” rule, it’s important to estimate how much you’ll spend out of pocket on eligible expenses.

Know what expenses are eligible for reimbursement from each account when you estimate. You won’t be able to get the money back from your FSA.
Be careful with your estimate and be sure to consider the amount in your Children’s Mercy HRA. You will not be reimbursed from your Health Care FSA for expenses paid by your HRA.
Ineligible and unsubstantiated expenses are subject to taxation.
Remember, if you enroll in the Green Plan, you are eligible for the Limited Purpose Health Care FSA, and the dollars in your account can be used for eligible dental and vision expenses only.

Confirm your eligibility and when you can enroll in FSAs.

Eligible FSA Expenses

View the list of eligible expenses on the WEX website.
You can also review IRS Publication 502.