Up to date for 2024, new $10 Amazon bonus. Right here’s a year-end reminder to get again all the cash despatched into Healthcare Versatile Spending Accounts (HC FSA) on account of their “use it or lose it” construction (see potential extensions beneath). In keeping with the most recent evaluation by EBRI, roughly half (!) of FSA accountholders forfeited funds to their employer in 2022. The typical forfeiture was $441.
I’m selecting up an additional pulse oximeter and brow thermometer after our a number of enjoyable journeys with youngsters and respiratory diseases this yr.
Fast concepts. In case you didn’t exhaust your funds with insurance coverage copays or deductibles, listed below are eligible gadgets which you could nonetheless purchase over-the-counter with out a prescription. Simply order issues on-line after which submit the receipt. Amazon even has a particular FSA-eligible web page that immediately accepts FSA/HSA debit playing cards, full with an “below $25” and “little-known eligible gadgets” part. Think about using this time to inventory your hurricane/earthquake/snowstorm emergency kits.
Proper now, they’re additionally providing $10 Amazon credit score if you spend $50 on eligible FSA gadgets.
(It’s possible you’ll have to view this web page on the web site to see all of the Amazon hyperlinks.)
- Eye care together with studying glasses, prescription glasses, prescription sun shades, contact lenses, resolution, and drops. Ex. Renu Contact Lens Resolution Multipurpose Disinfectant
- First help provides (bandages, gauze, tape) for emergency kits. Ex. Band-Aids
- Wheelchairs, walkers, & canes. Ex. Medline Light-weight Transport Grownup Folding Wheelchair
- Household planning merchandise (condoms, contraception, being pregnant checks). Ex. SKYN Elite Non-Latex Lubricated Condoms, 36 Depend
- Dwelling testing aids (blood stress, diabetes, thermometers). Ex. Omron Silver Blood Stress Monitor
- Sunscreen and sunblock (SPF 15+ broad spectrum). Ex. Solar Bum Unique Moisturizing Sunscreen Lotion and Child Bum Mineral SPF 50 Sunscreen Face Stick (private favourite for youths)
The 2020 CARES Act added the next classes for 2021 and past:
- Over-the-counter medication like ache, chilly/flu, and allergy meds. Ex. Vicks DayQuil and NyQuil Extreme, Cough, Chilly, Flu, Sore Throat
- Private protecting tools together with hand sanitizer, masks, and disinfecting wipes. Ex. PURELL Superior Hand Sanitizer Selection Pack
- Menstrual care merchandise corresponding to tampons, cups, liners, and pads. Ex. EcoBlossom Reusable Menstrual Cup Set – The Most Dependable Medical Grade Silicone Interval Cups
Ideally, when you use an FSA card and store via an eligible FSA retailer, issues might be auto-approved. In any other case, when getting a receipt, be sure that it clearly contains the next:
- Date of service or buy
- Identify or description of the merchandise
- Quantity of buy
Deadline extensions. Employers have the choice of including one of many following:
- Some plans permit a grace interval till March fifteenth of the next yr versus a December thirty first deadline to make use of your funds, however it might solely apply to claims and never late purchases. Verify together with your employer on in the event that they opted-in to those extensions.
- Some plans permit individuals to hold over as much as $500 in unused FSA funds into subsequent yr. Verify together with your employer.
Massive, exhaustive lists. A few of these are searchable by key phrase as effectively.
However bear in mind, your FSA administrator has the ultimate say as to the precise pointers for reimbursement based on your plan. Yearly, I’ve to cope with declare rejections and further paperwork. The skeptic in me suspects that this bureaucratic nightmare is a part of their enterprise mannequin. (Keep in mind mail-in rebates?) Guess who will get to maintain unreimbursed FSA funds? The employer, which may then use the cash to pay for… the FSA administrator.
Obtained a Well being Financial savings Account (HSA) and suppose you’re ineligible for an FSA? Search for a “limited-purpose FSA” choice that’s restricted to dental and imaginative and prescient care providers. These have the identical max annual wage deduction.
