Ask HealthHarbor: Did I just lose my Flexible Saving Account dollars?
Q: With the holidays and a crazy year-end, I completely forgot about $300 that was left in my FSA through my employer. Did I just kiss this money goodbye, or can I somehow use it?
A: While your Flexible Savings Account cutoff for incurring the medical care was likely 12/31 (you may want to check on this through your HR -- 12/31 is the most common but not a hard and fast rule), you will likely have three to four more months to send in the documentation and get reimbursed for 2009 expenses. Think back to your 2009 and determine if there are things that you could get reimbursed for -- deductibles, prescriptions, therapy, over-the-counter medical supplies and the like. Chances are you'll be able to come up with $300 of unreimbursed medical expenses. If, however, you can't, you are right -- you would lose the dollars. That is the difference between a Flexible Savings Account and a Health Savings Account (HSA). In an HSA, you would roll the dollars over to the new year.