HIPAA regulations require that Igoe speak only the employee participating in their employer-sponsored FSA plan(s). You may allow another individual to speak with an Igoe representative by completing the Health Information Release Form. Authorization for the release of health information is on a per incident basis. You will need to complete the release form for each incident in which you would like to have another individual work with Igoe to manage your account on your behalf.

For your medical care reimbursement account, items and services must be considered medically necessary. For a list of eligible items and services, please log in to the Flex Website and click on the Qualifying Medical Expense List link located on the lower left hand navigation.

Orthodontia expenses are unique in that they will typically span over multiple plan years and may require an FSA election and reimbursement from those multiple plan years. Orthodontia expenses are most often broken out to reimburse those expenses which have been incurred during your plan year or eligible period.

Example: Sally is enrolling in her employer sponsored medical care reimbursement account beginning January 1 for the full 12 month plan year. Sally has met with an orthodontist and decided on a plan where her son will begin treatment on February 1. Sally’s provider has indicated that the treatment will span 18 months. For the first plan year, Sally may request reimbursement for expenses associated with the down payment and the 11 months of services that will be incurred during the FSA plan year. For the remaining 7 months of service reimbursement, Sally would re-enroll in her employer sponsored medical care reimbursement account next year and request reimbursement for the remaining service dates. Even if Sally decides to pay upfront for the full cost of the orthodontia, she may only be eligible for reimbursement of those expenses that will be incurred during each FSA Plan Year.

Based on your employer sponsored plan, options for reimbursement may vary but in all cases when requesting reimbursement for orthodontia expenses one of the following must be provided: a copy of the orthodontia contract from the provider or a completed Ortho Treatment Statement.

Please access the Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with a detailed receipt or invoice.

The Account Balance represents your YTD deposits minus your YTD reimbursements. However, since your entire annual Medical Care election is available at any point during the plan year regardless of your YTD deposits, the more relevant figure is the Remaining Account Balance. This figure represents your entire annual election minus your YTD reimbursements.

Dependent Care is a dollar in - dollar out election, which means that you can only be reimbursed up to the amount of your YTD deposits. Although your request may have been approved in full, it can only be reimbursed according to your YTD deposits. Any residual will be automatically reimbursed as additional deposits are posted for the remainder of the plan year.

As an active employee on the last day of the Plan Year, you may have a time period, know as the run-out period, after the end of your plan year to submit expenses for reimbursement that were incurred during your eligible period. To find out specifics on the run-out option for your employer please review your FSA Plan Highlights.

Your employer sponsored plan may offer a grace period at the end of the FSA Plan Year for up to 2.5 months. This time period allows you to continue to incur expenses against your prior plan year FSA balance. If you are an active employee on the last day of the plan year and your employer group allows this plan design option, you may be eligible to participate in the grace period.

Requests for reimbursement will be entered in the order of receipt. As you may be participating in two FSA Plan Years during the grace period, your claims will be applied to any remaining balance in your prior plan year first to ensure that your balance is used in full prior to the end of your plan’s run-out period. During your participation in the grace period, it is imperative that you submit requests with the oldest date of service first to make certain that your requests are reimbursed properly.

If you do not request reimbursement according to the parameters established in your employer's plan documents, any unclaimed deposits are forfeited to your employer.

If the transaction is an uneven dollar amount (for example, $28.79), or a large dollar amount (for example, $550), a prompt to submit a receipt will be automatically generated. These transaction amounts are not clearly identifiable as copayments. The receipt is necessary to ensure that your employer's plan remains compliant with IRS regulations.

Elections made to your FSA typically cannot be changed outside of your Open Enrollment period without a qualifying event or qualifying change of status.

To determine if you may have an eligible qualifying event to change your FSA election please visit http://www.changeofstatus.com and walk through the available menu options.

The Dependent Care election has the flexibility to be changed based on need. For example, if your cost for dependent daycare has increased, you can increase your election (up to the amount allowed by IRS regulations).

The Medical Care election is more restrictive and can only be changed (outside of open enrollment) if you experience a qualified change of status. Qualified changes of status include marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, death, etc. Furthermore, the change to the Medical Care election must correspond to the qualified change of status. For example, if you get married during the plan year, you are gaining a dependent and this is a qualified change of status which would allow you to increase your existing Medical Care election.

Prior to taking a leave of absence from your employer, be sure to contact your Human Resource department for options on how to handle your benefits while you are out. Options for handling your Medical Care Reimbursement Account while on a leave of absence may include the following:

Stop all contributions while out on leave of absence - You may be eligible to stop contributions to the FSA account while you are out on leave. If you choose this option, any expenses incurred during the leave of absence will not be eligible for reimbursement as you are not actively participating in the plan.

Pre-pay contributions for the scheduled leave of absence - You may be eligible to pre-pay all planned contributions to your account. Pre-payment of contributions allows you to keep the pre-tax benefit of the plan as well as keeps your account open to submit for reimbursement for expenses incurred while out on a leave of absence. Pre-payment of contributions prior to your leave of absence allows you to maintain an "active" employee status for purposes of the medical care reimbursement account, while you are on a leave of absence. Please note that if your leave of absence is extended beyond the intended return date, additional contributions may need to be made to your employer plan to maintain an "active" status in the account.

Make payments during your leave of absence - You may be eligible to make after tax payments to your employer for continuation of your medical care reimbursement account while on a leave of absence. Making contributions to the plan allows for your account to remain open for submission for reimbursement of expenses incurred while out on a leave of absence. Contributions while on a leave of absence should be made to your employer on a monthly basis. You will need to contact your employer to determine the dollar amount and the timelines during which contributions must be made.

Additional options for maintaining your FSA account(s) may be available for your employer-group. Please contact Participant Services at Igoe or your Human Resource department if you wish to discuss additional options that may be available for your group.