CTI offers three types of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) as a smart and convenient way to stretch your benefit dollars and receive real tax savings.
Dependent Care FSA
You can contribute up to $5,000 per household per year on a pre-tax basis to cover your cost of child care for children up to age 13.
Health Care FSAs –Full and Limited Purpose Accounts
You can contribute up to $3,050 per year on a pre-tax basis to pay for eligible out-of-pocket medical, dental, and vision expenses to either the Full or Limited FSA.
Limited Purpose FSA for those enrolled in the High Deductible Plan
- If you are enrolled in the High Deductible Plan you can use dollars in the Limited Purpose FSA for vision and dental expenses only until you have met the IRS minimum deductible level in medical plan expenses
- The 2024 IRS minimum deductible level is $1,600 for single medical coverage and $3,200 for family medical coverage
Full Purpose FSA for those enrolled in the PPO plan
If you are enrolled in the PPO plan you can use dollars in this account immediately to pay for medical plan copays, coinsurance, prescriptions, vision and dental expenses.
Resources
How Does it Work?
Expenses such as deductibles and copays can quickly add up, and dependent care costs can be even more expensive. FSAs let you pay these expenses with pre-tax dollars. This means that the money you set aside is not taxed, so you save money. Your contributions will be deducted from your paychecks in equal installments throughout the year and deposited into your account(s).
You will be issued an FSA card to pay for expenses at the time they are incurred or you can submit receipts to be reimbursed. It is your responsibility to keep documentation that the expenses you claim have been designated qualified expenses by the IRS. Keep in mind that the IRS has a strict “use it or lose it” rule. If you do not use the full amount in your FSA(s) by the end of the calendar year, you will lose any remaining funds.
When estimating your health care and dependent care costs, it is better to be conservative and underestimate rather than overestimate your expenses.
FSA Enrollment
- You must elect the amount you want to contribute each year for that year. Even if you participated the previous year, your election does not carry over; you must actively enroll to contribute to the FSAs.
- You cannot stop or change your contribution amount during the year unless you experience a qualified life status event.
- You cannot transfer funds from one FSA to another. Call Benefit Resource at 800-473-9595 or visit www.benefitresource.com with questions regarding Flexible Spending Accounts.
