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Flexible Spending Essay

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If it is time for healthcare open enrollment or you are starting a new job that offers flexible spending accounts, here are a few things you need to know about the accounts and how they can help you with your health-related costs. • Flexible spending accounts, known as FSAs, are an employee healthcare benefit that allows you to set aside pretax income in an account to help you pay for healthcare costs. • FSAs help cover health-related costs not covered by traditional health insurance such as copays, fertility treatments, alternative medicine or medically necessary supplies. • Employers will ask their employees how much pretax income they would like to contribute to the FSA at the beginning of each plan year, which is normally the first week …show more content…

Depending on your health insurance, you will receive a card similar to a debit card allowing you to pay for medical expenses. Other plans require you to submit documentation or receipts so your insurance company can reimburse you for your expense. You can use flexible spending accounts for any dependents that you claim on your taxes or any adult children in your home under the age of 26. Flexible spending accounts also allow you to use the funds for any approved medical expenses incurred by your spouse. At the end of the plan year, you will forfeit any money left in the account, although some employers provide you with a short grace period. When to Choose a Flexible Spending Account According to Nerd Wallet, health insurance experts recommend that if you have any ongoing medical expenses your plan does not cover, you should choose to add some of your pretax income to a flexible spending account. Experts say that before you choose to use an FSA, you should take stock of your current health and examine any medical-related costs you may foresee in the upcoming year. The majority of Americans have some predictable medical expenses there plan does not cover throughout any given year, so an FSA is a smart way for many people to use their pretax income. Flexible Spending Account Restrictions, Grace Periods and

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