|
 |
Convenience and Savings
Flexible Spending Accounts are set up through your employer to provide you with an opportunity for tax-free savings to use toward qualified medical or dependent care expenses. A health care FSA offers a convenient way to set aside your pre-tax earnings to pay for eligible health care expenses. Likewise, a Dependent Care FSA offers the same tax advantages for daycare-related expenses.
Establishing an FSA can help you budget for your share of medical costs and become a more empowered consumer of health care. Additionally, with the tax-advantaged status of FSA contributions, your earnings go further.
Funds from your FSA can be used for a variety of eligible expenses, including:
- Medical copayments
- Deductibles
- Co-insurance
- Prescriptions
- Vision Care
- Certain over-the-counter medical items
You can decide how much to contribute to your FSA by making a careful estimate of what your qualified expenses are likely to be. Recent IRS regulations relax the use-it-or-lose-it rule mandated by the federal law governing FSAs prior to 2008, and offer the potential for greater flexibility in managing your account balance. Check with your employer to see if your benefit program allows this time extension.
|
