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Lloyd D. Watnik Government Benefits Consulting
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER |
November 2009
| Vol 1, Issue 10
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"It's YOUR Retirement!
Stay informed."
Click here for archived Issues
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Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
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Our topic this month is the Flexible Spending
Account (FSA). This program is only available to current employees. It is a
tax saving benefit. In many cases, thousands of dollars can be saved each year.
The savings will help employees contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
Please forward this to your friends and family as an informative tool for retirement planning.
Lloyd D. Watnik
www.lloydwatnik.com
2010 BENEFIT DETERMINATIONS
Join me in San Diego next week
November 9, 2009
for CSRS/FERS training.
Learn how the 2010 changes
will affect your retirement!
Call (619) 906-9483 to register!
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Two Types of FSA
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There are two types
of FSAs available to employees:A Health Care FSA (HCFSA), through
which employees can use pre-tax allotments to pay for certain health care
expenses that are not reimbursed by any other source and not claimed on
the participant's income tax return. The annual maximum amount for
reimbursement is $5,000.
- A Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA), through
which employees may use pre-tax allotments to pay for eligible dependent
care expenses up to a maximum annual reimbursement of $5,000 ($2,500 if
the employee is married and filing a separate income tax return).
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Eligibility
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Employees eligible for FEHB (even if not
currently enrolled) can elect a healthcare FSA to cover expenses not covered
under their FEHB plan - deductibles, coinsurance and copayments, as well as
services not generally covered such as dental care, etc.
All Federal employees
(including employees with temporary, seasonal and intermittent appointments)
will be able to elect to participate in the dependent care FSA for eligible
dependents.
Re-employed Annuitants
who are eligible for FEHB (even if not currently enrolled) may enroll within 60
days of becoming reemployed.
New or newly eligible
employees that do not have an opportunity to elect coverage during an open
enrollment may elect to participate immediately upon entry into duty. |
Open Season
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The Federal Flexible Spending Account Program
(FSAFEDS) Open Season coincides with FEHB Open Season:
Open Season: 11/9/2009
to 12/14/2009
Effective Date: 01/01/2010
This is the only time Federal Employees may
enroll in the FSAFEDS Program, outside of a Qualifying Life
Event (QLE). The benefit elections are irrevocable once the plan year
has begun, unless the employee experiences a qualified status change.
Unlike
Federal Employee Health Benefits enrollments, FSAFEDS enrollments do not carry
over from year to year. Employees wishing to enroll in FSAFEDS must make a
positive enrollment during open season, even if you are currently enrolled in
the program.
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Dental & Vision
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The FSA used to pay for eligible
health care expenses not covered by the FEHB Program, the new Federal Employees
Dental and Vision Insurance Program, or any other insurance.
Expenses such as
co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles, over-the-counter medicines, medical
supplies, prescription drugs, vision and dental care, even shipping and
handling charges for mail-order prescriptions and eligible over-the-counter
items are covered. |
Dependent Care
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A Dependent
Care FSA is used to pay for childcare and/or adult dependent care expenses
that are necessary to allow you and your spouse (if married) to work, look for
work or attend school full-time. |
THE CATCH
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THE CATCH is that the money must be spent
between January 1, 2010 and March 15, 2011. Any balance remaining after the
cutoff date is lost to the employee. This seems to scare many employees. It
shouldn't! The money is easy to spend. If there is a balance near the end of
the spending period, items such as prescription sun glasses and lasik surgery can be used. It is easy to get
reimbursed; instructions are at the web site for enrollment ( www.fsafeds.com). Most
FEHB plans will automatically bill FSA for your copayments and deductibles.
Many drug stores, such as Walgreens and CVS, will bill FSA for you. The bill does
not have to be paid to get reimbursement (with the exception of child care).
The web site has an excellent calculator
that will tell you how much you can save by using FSA. Please consider this tax
saving option. |
More To Come!
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NEXT MONTH: Changes for 2010 to the retirement systems!
Join me in San Diego next week November 9, 2009 for CSRS/FERS training.
Learn how the 2010 changes will affect your retirement! Call (619) 906-9483 to register!
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We
have been told that other seminar companies and Federal newsletters do point
out "the good deals." We choose not to for several reasons. The
most important reason is that our background and resources are in Federal
retirement benefits. We are not life insurance, health insurance or mutual fund
representatives and we refuse to take referral fees of any kind.
We, too, have
noticed what appear to be recommendations in Federal e-mail and hard copy
publications on all these issues. In many cases, they even give you an
application or an 800 number in the publication or web site. We have been told
that fees are paid and, in fact, the article was written, by the offering party.
BE CAREFUL!!! Do your homework.
We sell nothing other than our
course. We do not accept referral fees. Our goal is to help Federal Employees
have a successful retirement. We allow our students to call us about Federal
benefits any time after taking the course without charge.
Next month we will discuss Federal Employee Health Benefits.
Lloyd D. Watnik Government Benefits Consulting
www.lloydwatnik.com
View our open class schedule here!
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