Each year, you have the option to elect either or both the Health Care and Dependent Care Spending Account. You allocate a specific dollar amount to be deducted from your gross income before any taxes are taken out. The money you elect to contribute is deducted from your paycheck and deposited into your Flexible Spending Account. Your payroll deduction is calculated by dividing your annual election by the number of paychecks you receive in a year. You must make separate elections for your Health Care Flexible Spending Account and your Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account.

Health Care Flexible Spending Account
If you elected a Health Care FSA, your annual election amount is pre-funded, which means the entire election amount is deposited into your debit card account on the start date of the plan year.

You can then use your FSA to pay for eligible expenses at doctor’s offices, pharmacies, orthodontists and hospitals. And, if your company offers a debit card option, using your FSA plan is easier than ever. With the debit card, you will not have to pay for services out-of-pocket and wait to be reimbursed.

If the MasterCard logo is not accepted at the location where you have incurred the eligible expense or you choose not to use it at the time of service, you will need to fill out a claim form for reimbursement.

Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
If you have a Dependent Care account, you can use your FSA to pay for eligible dependent care expenses, such as childcare (daycare) or eldercare expenses. However, you can only access funds that you have already contributed, and that are currently in your dependent care account. For example, if you elected to pay $100 a week for eligible dependent care expenses on January 1, and your FSA account totals $500 on February 1, then your debit card transaction cannot exceed $500 on February 1st.

If you have a recurring daycare expense, you should provide us with an initial receipt that documents this ongoing expense.

If your daycare or eldercare provider accepts credit or debit cards – and your employer offers a debit card option - you may be able to use your benefits card for regular payments.