| Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) allow you to set up regular pre-tax deductions from your pay check to cover projected eligible
health care and/or dependent care out-of-pocket expenses. Flexible Spending Accounts, also called Reimbursement Accounts,
are like personal bank accounts in which you can set aside a predetermined dollar amount of cover allowable non-reimbursed expenses.
You contribute to the accounts through payroll deductions on a pre-tax basis, that is, before federal income and Social Security/Medicare
taxes are applied. The immediate benefit is that this program lets you make the most tax-effective use of your salary for
these expenses.
This is how the FSA program works. First, you estimate your eligible expenses for the plan year (October 1 through September
30, or a shortened plan year for new employees). During this period, regular pre-tax deductions are taken from your pay.
Then, you submit a claim to the County's FSA administrator for reimbursement of eligible expenses. You will receive a check
in the amount of your allowable out-of-pocket expenses.
It is very important that you plan your expenses carefully because if the money in your account is not used, you will lose
the moneys at the end of the year. All FSA reimbursement requests for expenses incurred with the plan year (October 1 through
September 30) must be received for processing on or before December 31st of the same calendar year.
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