What will fsa cover in 2018

You can also ask if your provider has a "run-out period. SHRM found that 51 percent of employers offered this. If you have an Health Savings Account, or HSA, a savings vehicle available to those in a high-deductible health insurance plan, note that these limitations do not apply.

You can roll over your funds year to year. The year of the year is a great time to schedule medical procedures such as blood work or other testing, especially since, if you've met your annual deductible, your insurance company may cover more of the cost.

You can apply your FSA funds towards your part of the bill. If you're like most Americans, you put off taking care of your eyes and your teeth. Vision expenses are typically covered through FSA plans, though, so December may be a good time to get an eye exam.

This is an especially good idea if you don't have vision insurance and have to pay out of pocket. You can generally use your FSA funds on the contacts or eyeglasses you purchase, too, as well as contact accessories such as cleaning solution and cases. Even prescription sunglasses may be covered. Limited-purpose FSA funds can only be used to pay for qualifying dental and vision expenses incurred by employees or their covered spouses and qualified tax dependents. Consider writing your plan documents to define the contribution limit as the annual amount allowed by the IRS for the plan year, so that annual amendments are not necessary to permit contributions up to the adjusted pretax limit, Uhlig advised.

Open Enrollment Tips For those able to modify their open enrollment communications, "this is a great opportunity for employers to encourage employees to not only sign up for an FSA account but take advantage of the increase in the annual limit," said Iruke. Younger employees are likely to say, "I don't get sick and I don't think I'll need this," Iruke added.

When participants access an FSA calculator and enter their estimated co-pays, deductibles, prescriptions and other items that might not realize are eligible—such as prescription sunglasses—"they are able to get a better idea of how FSAs can work for them," she pointed out.

The dependent care FSA maximum is set by statute and is not subject to inflation-related adjustments. These limits have not been raised in several years. A dependent care FSA is a pretax benefit account used to pay for dependent care services such as day care, preschool, summer camps and nonemployer-sponsored before or after school programs. Funds may be used for expenses relating to children under the age of 13 or incapable of self-care who live with the account holder more than half the year.

Dependent care FSAs also can be used for a spouse or other qualifying dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care and lives with the account holder for more than half the year. They may be used for elder daycare when an elderly or disabled parent is considered a dependent and the account holder is covering more than 50 percent of the elderly or disabled parent's maintenance costs.

The annual contribution limit for a dependent Care FSA is based on the account holder's tax filing status. Generally, joint filers have double the limit of single or separate filers. However, even if each spouse has access to a separate FSA through his or her employer, they are still subject to the mandated maximum limits. In addition, maximum contributions to a dependent FSA may not exceed these earned income limits:.

Although an early version of the tax bill enacted at the end of would have eliminated the tax exclusion for dependent care FSAs, the final version of the bill signed into law on Dec. On Dec. Nonprofit employers aren't spared: Tax-exempt employers would be subject to the tax on unrelated business income for any qualified transportation benefits provided to employees.

Generally, employees must use all of their FSA funds by the end of the plan year or forfeit any remaining funds. However, two exceptions — the carryover option and the grace period — can give employees extra time to use their contributions, if added to the plan design.

Employers must pick only one option to offer. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of allows for more flexibility when it comes to carrying over unused balances from FSA and dependent care assistance programs in plan years and , as well as extending permissible grace periods for these plan years. Employers may choose to allow all unused funds to be carried over from to and from to Employers may also choose to extend the grace period to 12 months rather than the typical two-and-a-half months.

The effect of either decision is the same: all unused funds can be carried over and used throughout the entire year. Any eligible medical expenses accrued during this grace period can be reimbursed with funds remaining in the FSA from the prior plan year. The inclusion of the grace period extends the plan year to 14 months and 15 days as opposed to the month actual plan. For calendar year plans with exception of and , the grace period begins Jan. In and , the grace period extends for 12 months.

All funds remaining in the account at the end of the grace period are forfeited according to the "use-it-or-lose-it" rule, which requires all remaining funds in an FSA to be forfeited at the end of the plan year. Claims submitted during the grace period are automatically taken out of the prior year's remaining funds before drawing from the current plan year; however, in the event that a debit card is used for eligible expenses, the funds are drawn from the current plan year.

Imagine, for example, your plan year ends on Dec. On Feb. Employers can provide a grace period or a carryover provision but not both. To take advantage of the grace period option, FSA plans must be amended to include the option by the end of the prior year. For example, if you were to have a grace period option for the year, your employer would need to amend your plan by Dec.

Plans cannot be altered mid-year to include the grace period.