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Flexible Spending Account (FSA) This benefit allows you to pay for out-of-pocket health and dependent care costs with your tax-free dollars. Enrollment for the health and dental flexible spending account is each March for the plan year of May 1 to April 30. All full-time faculty and administrators and full-and part-time clerical union employees may enroll in the FSA plan. New employees are eligible for this benefit on the first of the month after six months of employment. An employee may enroll in a health care account even if the Roosevelt University insurance plan has been waived. This benefit is administered through Process Works, and claims are reimbursed daily to participants or directly to health or dependent care providers with the use of the FSA debit card. Toll-free customer service is available for specific questions by calling 888-868-2492. Manage your account on-line at www.myprocessworks.com. It is very important that you estimate your contribution to a flex account very carefully. Because the account provides you with special tax benefits, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) places certain restrictions on the accounts. For example, if you have not incurred enough eligible charges during the plan year to use your entire account balance, you must forfeit any remaining amounts. This is why FSA is sometimes called a use-it-or-lose-it benefit. For assistance in determining your FSA withholding, please refer to the “Why enroll in FSA” brochure and the “FSA savings calculator” both listed below. A new FSA feature since 2006-07 is the addition of a 2 ½ month grace period. Here is an answer to the FSA “use-it or lose-it” issue. Prior to 2006-07, FSA eligible expenses had to be incurred (service received) between May 1 and April 30 of any given plan year. Beginning in 2006-07, we added a grace period to July 15, 2007. Any unused flex dollars withheld between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009 may be applied to FSA expenses incurred during the grace period of May 1, 2009 and July 15, 2009 (if submitted by July 31, 2009.) Claims will be processed on a first in-first out basis. In other words, your remaining 2008-09 FSA dollars will be applied to grace period FSA claims first. When these 2008-09 flex dollars are exhausted, grace period claims will then be reimbursed from your 2009-10 flex account (if you enroll.) Health care and dependent care are separate accounts and you may not transfer dollars from one account to the other. All employee contributions to RU’s health and dental insurance plans are also tax-free. This is set-up automatically upon insurance enrollment and is a separate contribution from the voluntary contributions made to a health care or dependent care account described in this summary. Health Care FSA This benefit allows you to be reimbursed for certain health care expenses with TAX-FREE earnings. You may deposit your own pre-tax dollars into the health care account for reimbursement of eligible expense such as medical, dental, vision and prescription co-payments, deductibles and related expenses not covered under insurance for you, your spouse or dependent children. Insurance premiums (with the exception of Roosevelt plans) are not eligible for reimbursement. Each plan year, you may contribute a minimum of $120 to a maximum of $5,000 to a health care account. Dependent Care FSA Use the Dependent Care Account to pay for dependent care with tax-free dollars up to $5,000 annually per family. These dollars may be used to cover day care and before- or after-school care for your dependent child through age 12 and/or eligible adult day care. Related FSA Information
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