EMPLOYEE FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS

Open Enrollment is the time to enroll or re-enroll in an FSA if you want to continue the plan in 2013. To participate, you must contribute a minimum of $180 per year.

Plan changes for 2013

Effective Jan. 1, 2013, the Health FSA maximum contribution amount will be $2,500. If both you and your spouse are UC employees, you may each contribute up to $2,500.

Keep in mind as your choose your election amount that any money you do not use by March 15, 2014 and claim by April 15, 2014 will be lost.

Advantages of a Health or Dependent Care FSA.

• A planned approach to paying expenses—You set aside money that you will have to pay anyway in a pre-tax account from which you can draw to pay eligible expenses.
• Affordable pre-tax contributions—You contribute an equal portion of the total annual amount of your account by pretax deductions each pay period.
• Tax savings—Because your deductions are taken before taxes, your tax liability is reduced.

Health FSA only:

Benefit card convenience—You will have a card that you can use for qualified expenses at participating providers’ offices, drug stores and most pharmacies where credit cards are accepted, so you won’t have to pay out-of-pocket or file reimbursement claim forms. (Be sure to always save your receipts in the event of future requests by the FSA vendor or the IRS to verify that the purchase is valid.)