Once you’ve found the plan(s) that fit you best, it’s time to make your selections.
Not ready to enroll? Review saved plans and choose a plan that is right for you.
View saved plansA flexible spending account (FSA) lets you set aside pretax money from each paycheck to help pay for health expenses. FSAs are offered by your employer as part of your benefits package.
It’s important to know that you need to re-enroll in your FSA each plan year.
FSA tax advantages
The amount you contribute to your FSA is pretaxed, meaning you save whatever percentage you would have paid in federal taxes if the money had not been deducted from your paycheck.
Here is a list of some eligible expenses that you can pay for with a health care FSA. For a full list of expenses and rules, visit irs.gov.
Common expenses
When you sign up for the FSA, you will receive a Mastercard® Health Care Spending Card from UnitedHealthcare. This debit card lets you pay for covered health care services or other eligible expenses from your FSA. With the debit card, there's no need to write checks or submit claim forms— you can use this debit card from your FSA by phone, through the web, or at any place that accepts MasterCard.
Getting reimbursed from your FSA is easy - just submit your claims online at myuhc.com. Using myuhc.com also makes it easier for you to track account balances and turn on direct deposits for fast reimbursements directly into your personal bank account.
If you don’t spend your FSA dollars by the end of your plan year, you may lose that money. While most people are able to spend the money they set aside, some employers may give employees more time to spend their FSA dollars — or carry it over to the next year. How to manage spending your FSA
An FSA is different from a health savings account (HSA). Here’s a side-by-side look at both account types to help you compare and consider the one that might work best for you.
| FSA | HSA | |
| How do I get it? | FSAs are offered by your employer as part of your benefits package. | HSAs are an option when you enroll in certain high deductible health plans. |
| Who funds it? | You set aside pretax money from each paycheck. Your employer can also contribute. | You’re responsible for funding your HSA. Your employer, family and others can put money into it if they choose. There’s no limit to how much you can save over time, but there are annual contribution limits set by the IRS. |
| How can I spend the money? | It can only be used for qualified out-of-pocket expenses. The amount you can spend is capped. FSAs may follow the use it or lose it rule, meaning if you don’t spend your FSA funds within your plan year, you can’t carry it over to the next. | It can only be used for qualified medical expenses. Any unused funds continue to roll over year to year. |
| What happens if I leave my job? | Your employer keeps the funds. | Since it’s your HSA, the money in it stays with you, year after year, even if you change jobs or retire. |
| What are tax advantages? | You don’t pay federal, state or Social Security taxes on this money. | Tax benefits include tax-deductible contributions, you can build up your HSA by earning tax-free interest and tax-free returns from investing your HSA funds. |
