Flexible Spending Accounts

What is a Flexible Spending Account?

Enrolling in a health and/or dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) allows employees who are health plan members to set aside part of their salary on a pre-tax basis each pay period to pay for certain out-of-pocket expenses. For more information about these plans, you can contact your Benefits Team, visit the DHRM FSA page, visit payflex.com or call Payflex at 1-855-516-8595 (TTY: 711).

Health Care FSA

You can use a health FSA to pay for medical, dental and vision care expenses not covered by your health plan.

How it Works:

You can contribute pretax dollars from your paycheck, up to the current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limit.* Your full contribution is available at the start of the plan year to pay for eligible health care expenses. It covers you, your spouse and/or your tax dependents for:

  • Copays, coinsurance and deductibles
  • Dental expenses like orthodontia, crowns and bridges
  • Vision expenses like LASIK eye surgery, glasses and contacts
  • Eligible, qualifying prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) items**

Dependent Care FSA

A dependent care FSA can be used to reimburse eligible child care or dependent self-care expenses so that you and your spouse can work or actively look for work.

How it Works:

You can contribute pretax dollars from your paycheck, up to the current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limit.* Funds are for your dependent(s) age 12 or younger or a spouse or dependent incapable of self-care. This FSA pays for eligible child and adult care expenses, such as day care, preschool and nursery school, in-home aid, and more.

Note: You must be working to use your dependent care funds. If you're married, your spouse must either be working, looking for work, a fulltime student or incapable of self-care.

Go to DHRM Flexible Spending Account Information

PayFlex

Our FSA Plans are administrated by Payflex. You will use Payflex to manage your account, check balances, submit claims, view common eligible expenses, and more.

PayFlex.com
Budget Money Calculator

New employees must enroll by the enrollment deadlines. Current employees can enroll or make changes to their contributions during Open Enrollment or if their status changes due to a Qualifying Mid-Year Event (marital status change, dependent number change, etc.). Specific to dependent care FSA's: because you (and your spouse) are required to be working to use your dependent care funds, you can change your contribution if there's a change in your provider or a change in the cost for a provider.

Renewing Enrollment

The annual Flexible Spending Account does NOT renew automatically. You must re-enroll every year during Open Enrollment to select your contribution amount.

Calculating Contribution

Virginia DHRM provides a FSA Worksheet each year to help you estimate how much to contribute based on your individual situation. Be conservative in your estimates, since any remaining funds are not returned to you.

You must be actively enrolled in a Health Care plan in order to also enroll in a Flexible Spending Account. Please visit the DHRM website for more information.

New employees must enroll by the enrollment deadlines. Current employees can enroll or make changes to their contributions during Open Enrollment or if their status changes due to a Qualifying Mid-Year Event (marital status change, dependent number change, etc.). Specific to dependent care FSA's: because you (and your spouse) are required to be working to use your dependent care funds, you can change your contribution if there's a change in your provider or a change in the cost for a provider.

Renewing Enrollment

The annual Flexible Spending Account does NOT renew automatically. You must re-enroll every year during Open Enrollment to select your contribution amount.

Calculating Contribution

Virginia DHRM provides a FSA Worksheet each year to help you estimate how much to contribute based on your individual situation. Be conservative in your estimates, since any remaining funds are not returned to you.

You must be actively enrolled in a Health Care plan in order to also enroll in a Flexible Spending Account. Please visit the DHRM website for more information.

The simple way to save for health and dependent care expenses

7/1
Plan Year Starts July 1 starts the spending year
6/30
Plan Year Ends June 30 ends the account year
9/1
Last Day to Submit Claims Claims incurred between 7/1 - 6/30

Pay with Ease

Here's how easy it is to pay for your eligible expenses:

  • Use the PayFlex Card®, your account debit card: When you use the PayFlex Card, your expense is automatically paid from your FSA. Check your plan details to confirm what expense types are available on your card.
  • Pay yourself back: Pay for eligible expenses with cash, a check or your personal credit card. Then, submit a claim to pay yourself back. To save time, have your claims payment deposited directly into your checking or savings account.
  • Pay your provider: Use the PayFlex online feature to pay your provider directly from your account.

Use It or Lose It Rule

FSA's have a use-it-or-lose-it rule. This means you'll lose any unused funds at the end of the plan year. Check your plan details to confirm how it works. The run-out period gives you extra time to submit claims to pay yourself back.

*Dates subject to change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact your Benefits Specialist, or the Benefits Team at benefits@odu.edu

Check Payflex FAQ's, visit payflex.com or call Payflex directly at 1-855-516-8595 (TTY: 711).

If you do not enroll in a Flexible Spending Account by the deadline, you will not have an account for this year. You will have to wait to for the following year's Open Enrollment period, or a qualifying mid-year event.

The Payflex card is only for health care expenses.

The dependent care FSA is a separate account (still administrated through Payflex). You can check both accounts by logging into Payflex, but the dependent care FSA works a little differently. The money is not preloaded at the beginning of the plan year like the health care FSA. Instead it is added from each paycheck. You must spend the money on an eligible expense first before submitting a claim for reimbursement.

The FSA Sourcebook provided by DHRM each year has more information about both types of accounts.

* IRS Limit subject to change.
** Written prescription may be required.

 

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