Health Care FSA
A Health Care FSA reimburses you for health care expenses that are not reimbursed by any other plan.
Who Is Covered
You can use a Health Care FSA to pay eligible expenses for:
You
Any
child who lives with you and whom you claim as a tax exemption (a child of a divorced employee is eligible for coverage even if the employee does not claim the child as an exemption)
Any individual who lives with you at least eight hours a day and depends on you for at least half of his or her financial support or is claimed as an eligible dependent on your federal tax return
Even if you, your spouse or children are not covered by DallasNews Corporation’s medical, dental or vision plans, you may still make contributions to the Health Care FSA.
Your Contributions
During annual enrollment, you decide how much to contribute to the Health Care FSA for the coming year. If you elect to participate, you can contribute a minimum of $300 and a maximum of $2,700 to the account each year.
The amount you elect to contribute is divided by the number of paychecks you receive during the year and deducted from each paycheck before taxes are taken out.
Getting Reimbursed
Here is how the Health Care FSA works:
You incur a health care expense while you are making contributions to the Health Care FSA and submit a claim to your health care plan.
When you receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from your health plan, send a copy, along with your Health Care Account claim form, to the address on the form.
If your health care expense is not reimbursed by any health care plan, submit the receipt with your Health Care Account claim form. The receipt should show the name of the provider, the date of service, the cost of the service and a list of the different services or items you received.
Claims are processed weekly. You may be reimbursed up to the full amount you have elected to contribute for the year (less any amounts you have already claimed). If your claim is for more than the amount in your account, your ongoing contributions will repay your account for any earlier reimbursements that you received.
You may obtain a claim form on this site (see left navigation), from the
claims administrator or from the TaxSaver Web site at
www.taxsaverplan.com. Your claim must be postmarked by April 30 of the following year to receive reimbursement. Any money from the prior plan year that is left in your account after April 30 will be forfeited, as discussed in
Use It or Lose It Rule.
Flex Debit Card
The Flex Debit Card allows you to pay for current-year health care expenses directly from your Health Care FSA. Limited Purpose Health Care FSA participants may only use the debit card for dental and vision expenses.
You can use your Flex Debit Card at your health care provider’s office or service location, such as an eye care center (or pharmacy with the Regular Health Care FSA). You do not need to provide supporting documentation if:
The amount you are paying with your card is the amount of your company-sponsored plan’s copay.
You have already filed your initial monthly orthodontia claim for this plan year and the amount is the same as the previous orthodontia payment.
The amount you are paying is for a recurring charge for which you have previously filed a claim.
When You Must Provide Supporting Documentation
When you use the Flex Debit Card for certain expenses, you must provide supporting documentation. If required, you will receive an e-mail from TaxSaver Plan advising what is needed. Some examples are if:
Regular Health Care FSA Examples
The amount you are paying with your Flex Debit Card does not equal your medical plan’s copay (applicable after you meet your deductible and use the card for prescriptions that have a flat copay). For example, you can use the card but will also need to provide supporting documentation if you use it to pay deductibles, coinsurance expenses, non-covered items, or copays under your spouse’s or dependent’s plan.
You use the card to buy eligible non-prescription items, such as bandages, orthodic shoe inserts or contact lens solution. If you are buying prescriptions at the same time as the eligible non-prescription items, you should pay for your prescriptions as one transaction and pay for your eligible non-prescription items separately. This way, you only need to include the non-prescription items on your claim. (Remember that you may not use the card to pay for any expenses that are not eligible for reimbursement under the Health Care FSA.)
You are using the card for the first time during the plan year to pay a monthly orthodontia visit or a coinsurance amount on a prescription.
Limited Purpose Health Care FSA Examples
You use your Flex Debit Card to pay deductibles and coinsurance expenses under your vision or dental plan, or copays under your spouse’s or dependent’s vision or dental plan.
You are using the card for the first time during the plan year to pay a monthly orthodontia visit.
Eligible Health Care Expenses
Eligible health care expenses must be:
An expense not paid by any other benefit plan (whether sponsored by DallasNews Corporation or any other plan)
Incurred while you were an eligible participant during the plan year
For procedures that are
medically necessary (an expense that could be considered cosmetic will not be eligible, for example teeth whitening)
Here are some examples of eligible expenses:
Out-of-pocket expenses,
deductibles and
coinsurance not paid by your health care plan or your spouse’s employer-sponsored plan
Charges in excess of your health plan’s benefits, such as orthodontia
Other health care expenses (except insurance premiums) considered tax-deductible by the IRS — refer to IRS publication 502 for detailed information
For a complete listing of eligible expenses, refer to the TaxSaver Web site at
www.taxsaverplan.com.
Ineligible Health Care Expenses
You must reimburse your Health Care FSA if you use your Flex Debit Card to pay for an ineligible expense or do not provide supporting documentation when requested. TaxSaver Plan will notify you if it receives an ineligible expense. You must either verify the expense with a claim or reimburse your account. Your card will be deactivated if you do not substantiate the expense.
You may not use your debit card for eligible expenses from the prior plan year. These prior year’s claims for reimbursement must be submitted directly to TaxSaver Plan.
Excluded Health Care Expenses
Expenses that the IRS does not allow you to have reimbursed through your Health Care FSA include, but are not limited to:
Expenses reimbursed by any other benefit plan
Expenses not considered deductible for federal tax purposes, such as teeth whitening
Expenses claimed as deductions on a federal or state income tax return
Expenses incurred while you were not eligible to participate in the plan
Premiums for any type of health insurance
For a complete listing of excluded expenses, refer to the TaxSaver Web site at
www.taxsaverplan.com.
Tax Considerations
The Health Care FSA is one way the government allows you to save taxes. You may also be eligible to claim the expenses on your federal income tax return as itemized expenses. However, you cannot do both.
You must determine which method is best for your situation. You may want to consult a tax advisor when making your decision. You may also want to consider the following:
Under current tax laws, only the portion of your health care expense that is greater than 7.5% of your adjusted gross taxable income may be deducted on your federal income tax return. In addition, you must file an itemized federal income tax return to claim itemized health care expenses.
The Health Care FSA provides a tax break on the very first dollar of expenses, but only up to the amount you choose to contribute. Expenses and reimbursements do not have to be reported on your federal income tax return.
Of course, the advantages of using before-tax dollars depend on your individual circumstances. While before-tax dollars reduce your taxes, they may slightly lower your Social Security benefits when you retire. Consult a financial advisor before participation.