|
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) |
Latest Information
Flexible Spending Accounts 2007 Open Season November 12 Through December
29, 2007
The 2007 Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) Open Season is scheduled for
November 12, 2007, through December 29, 2007, 5:00 p.m. Central Time
(CT). Eligible career employees who elect to participate in the FSA
program must enroll via PostalEASE during this time. Enrollments made
during this FSA Open Season are effective for the 2008 plan year -
January 1 through December 31, 2008 - plus a grace period that extends
until March 15, 2009. Enrollment ends sooner for participants who
separate or have extended leave without pay.
FSAs allow employees to set aside a portion of their pre-tax earnings
for certain types of out-of-pocket health care and dependent care
expenses. The money withheld for FSAs is not subject to income,
Medicare, or Social Security taxes. United Healthcare administers the
FSA program for the Postal Service.
The booklet FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts (November 2007) provides
an overview of FSAs.
Employees with FSAs for Health Care, Dependent Care, or both are able to
use any balance remaining in an FSA at the end of the plan year to cover
expenses incurred during the 2 1/2 months following that plan year. For
the 2007 plan year, the grace period extends until March 15, 2008. For
the 2008 plan year, the grace period will extend until March 15, 2009.
With the grace period, employees do not have to schedule services or
procure items in an end-of-year rush to avoid losing money in the
account. Of course, participants have to spend the previous year's
balance by March 15 or forfeit the money under the use-it-or-lose-it
rule.
The grace period is available only to FSA participants who are still
enrolled on December 31 of the plan year. Most FSA participants remain
enrolled through December 31, but an employee who retires before that
date (on December 30, for example) is not eligible for the grace period.
The deadline for filing claims has not changed - the FSA Customer
Service Center must receive all claims by September 30 of the year after
the plan year.
Using
PostalEASE to Enroll
To enroll in FSA during open season, employees have four options:
1. Go to https://liteblue.usps.gov
2. Use an employee self-service kiosk.
3. Go to http://blue.usps.gov - click
on Employee Self-Service, and then click on PostalEASE.
4. Call the PostalEASE toll-free number at 877-4PS-EASE (877-477-3273).
Eligibility
to Participate
Participation in the FSA program is limited to career employees. To
enroll, a career employee must have completed at least 26 full pay
periods of Postal Service career service during the current appointment
by the end of pay period (PP) 26-07 (December 21, 2007). A career
employee who is in a leave without pay (LWOP) status that has lasted for
eight consecutive full pay periods as of December 21, 2007, is not
eligible to participate in the FSA program, unless he or she is
returning from uniformed military service.
Election Opportunities: Health Care and Dependent Care FSAs
Eligible career employees may elect to participate in one, or both, of
two FSAs - the Health Care FSA and the Dependent Care FSA. Each FSA
covers eligible expenses for services that are received during the
employee's period of participation during the 2008 plan year (for most
employees this will be January 1, 2008, through March 15, 2009). Annual
contributions to the Dependent Care FSA are limited to $5,000 for a
family and $2,500 for a married employee filing a separate income tax
return. FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts, describes eligible and
ineligible expenses and provides guidelines for estimating 2008
expenses.
Reminder: Health care expenses for dependents must be included in the
Health Care FSA contribution amount and not in the Dependent Care FSA.
Withholding of FSA Contributions
Contributions for each FSA are withheld in equal amounts through payroll
deductions covering 26 pay periods (PP 01-08 through PP 26-08). The
minimum annual contribution employees may make to either FSA is $130 ($5
per pay period).
Qualified Life Status Change Enrollment and Elections
Participants may neither cancel enrollments nor change contribution
levels during the plan year except following qualified life status
changes, as explained in FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts. In those
cases, HRSSC specialists determine a participant's eligibility to enroll
or to change contribution levels during the plan year and respond to
employee inquiries about that eligibility.
FSA Claims
Participants mail or fax Form FSA1, Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
Withdrawal Request, directly to the FSA Customer Service Center in El
Paso, Texas, as explained on Form FSA1.
(Source: USPS
Postal Bulletin) |
|
|
|
|
|
