Open Enrollment starts next week. Are you ready? To help you prepare, Vanderbilt’s HR team is sharing the top 10 things you need to know.
Vanderbilt employees are eligible to fund two different types of flexible spending accounts (FSAs). FSAs are funded with your pretax dollars and can be used to pay for out-of-pocket health-related or dependent day care expenses.
Today’s article focuses on health care flexible spending accounts. You can contribute up to $2,550 per year to a health care FSA. Enter the dollar amount you want to put in the health care FSA when you enroll in My VU Benefits. The system will automatically calculate and show how much money will be taken out of each paycheck. Money will be taken out of each paycheck throughout the year to fund the health care FSA, but you will have access to the full amount Jan. 1, 2016.
You can pay for your and your dependents’ health-related expenses using the Benefit Express Health Care MasterCard, or submit a claim and you will be reimbursed. Visit the HR website for a list of eligible health care expenses, as well as details on how to submit a claim.
FSAs save you money! Because your income is going into your FSA account pretax, you save money by not paying income tax on that amount. FSA funds must be used by March 15, 2017, or they’ll be lost, so plan carefully. And remember, you must re-enroll every year.
Open Enrollment begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 14, 2015, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Oct. 30, 2015. Elections are effective Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2016, unless you have a qualifying event such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child. Visit hr.vanderbilt.edu/oe for additional information.