Using Your FSA in the New Plan Year
It’s a new plan year. Follow these tips to get the most out of your FSA.
The new year brings a change to your Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Below are a few important points
to keep in mind when you have funds remaining from last year’s plan year.
Grace Period

Your employer offers a grace period, which extends the amount of time you have to use your
previous plan year FSA funds. If you have remaining funds, you have until the end of your grace
period (for example, many employers set the grace period to end March 15) to incur qualified
expenses, and until the end of the run-out period (as outlined in your employer’s plan) to submit
reimbursement requests.
Using Your Payment Card During the Grace Period

When using your payment card between January 1 and the end of your grace period (March 15 for
many employers), the funds will first pull from your previous year’s account until those funds are
depleted before pulling from the current plan year.

For example, if you have a previous plan year balance of $100 and swipe your payment card on
January 5 for $60, the funds will be pulled from the previous plan year’s account, leaving a
remaining balance of $40 in your previous plan. This process helps minimize the risk of losing any of
last year’s contributions.

Plan ahead! If you are expecting a bill from your provider for an expense in the previous plan year,
make sure that you preserve your previous plan year’s funds for this expense. You may need to
delay using your card for some expenses from the new year in order to preserve your funds.
Regulations do not allow you to use the new plan year’s funds to pay for expenses incurred in the
previous plan year.
Reimbursement Requests

If you do not want to use your payment card to access prior year’s funds, you may pay using
personal funds and request reimbursement online or on the mobile app (where you will also have
to upload proper documentation). Online and mobile app reimbursement requests with
documentation may be submitted up until the end of the run-out period (as outlined in your
employer’s plan). Just like your payment card, all online and mobile reimbursement requests pull
funds from your previous year’s account first, so be sure to plan ahead.
Tips!

If you did not have a ConnectYourCare health care account the previous plan year, you cannot be
reimbursed through ConnectYourCare for any services incurred in that plan year.

If you have not done so already, set up direct deposit to receive your reimbursements faster!

Always save your itemized receipts; documentation may be requested for IRS-required
substantiation.
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