 Medical Care and Limited
Purpose FSAs allow employees to use pre-tax dollars to cover health care costs for
medical, dental, vision, hearing and other out-of-pocket expenses not paid by
insurance.
For 2013, the maximum
annual contribution for the Medical Care and Limited Purpose FSAs is $2,500.
A Limited Purpose FSA may only
be used for dental, vision and preventive care expenses until the minimum
deductible of a CDHP is met ($1,250 for single and $2,500 for family, per
federal regulations). Once the
minimum deductible is met, the Limited Purpose FSA can be used as a Medical
Care FSA.
If you are enrolled in a CDHP/HSA, your FSA will
automatically become a Limited Purpose FSA. You do not need to meet the minimum
deductible to use the funds in your Limited Purpose FSA for dental and vision
expenses. You can pay for dental and vision expenses from your Limited Purpose
FSA at any point during the year.
Dependent Care FSAs are
not front-loaded. A portion of your biweekly pay is put into a pre-tax account
to help pay for eligible dependent care costs throughout the year. Currently, the
maximum annual contribution amount for the Dependent Care FSA is $5,000 ($2,500
if married and filing separate tax returns).
Dependent care costs
include most dependent care expenses for eligible children and adults. Dependent
care expenses do not include medical expenses and therefore can be used even if
you participate in a HSA.
The state’s FSA program is
administered through Key Benefits Administrators. The administrative fee remains at $2 biweekly.
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