Flexible Spending Reimbursement

[babeqq]

She contends that she did not increase the amount for open enrollment because she was not sure whether she would give birth in 2012 or 2013. Which is plausible, but unfortunately does not change her predicament.

Thank you.

 

[cbg]

CBG, honey please correct me if I am wrong.

OP should have signed up for the Flex account during open enrollment in November. This would have taken effect January 1, right? The deductions to her paycheck and the benefit amounts would not have gone into effect until Jan 1, right?

Now if my thinking is correct, then why on earth did the OP wait until Jan 6th to enroll?

You are correct, assuming that the plan year begins on January 1. Which sounds probable with a November OE date, and also with the other info involved.

 

[babeqq]

So, can anyone link me to the actual IRS guideline (or any official government language) that states any qualifying expense for FSA reimbursement is based on service date, not bill date, not payment date?

 

[swalsh411]

So, can anyone link me to the actual IRS guideline (or any official government language) that states any qualifying expense for FSA reimbursement is based on service date, not bill date, not payment date?

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p969/ar02.html#en_US_2012_publink1000204184

Generally, distributions from a health FSA must be paid only to reimburse you for qualified medical expenses you incurred during the period of coverage.

If the expenses were incurred outside the period of coverage you cannot be reimbursed for them.

So your contention is that no one should enroll in an FSA plan if their expenses are going to be used related to a pregnancy or birth, because MAYBE there will be a miscarriage or stillbirth?

Sometimes I really don't believe you're real. Particularly since there does not appear to be any relevance to the OP's situation.

I am not going to even attempt to dissect that because there are so many things wrong with it. Attempting to correct somebody who made a wrong assumption based on something you never even said is a hopeless endeavor.