The South Williamsport Area School District offers employees two types of flexible spending accounts: a Health Care Flexible Spending Account and a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account.

Starting in October 2015, any teachers or administrators who participate in the District’s health insurance plan can only enroll in a Limited Purpose Health Care Flexible Spending Account which only allows tax savings on dental or vision expenses.  All other employees can enroll in a Full Purpose Health Care Flexible Spending Account which allows tax savings on medical, dental, or vision expenses.  All employees can enroll in a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account.

Flexible Spending Accounts are designed to save you tax dollars by setting up payroll deductions for medical and dependent care expenses.  If you’re in the 25% federal tax bracket, this program could save you 36.72% on medical expenses ($1,000 election amount = $367.20 savings) and 32.65% ($1,000 election amount = $326.50 savings) on dependent care expenses.  The IRS maximum amounts for 2015 are $2,550 for medical and $5,000 for dependent care.

The plan year for the Flexible Spending Accounts is October 1 through September 30. Open enrollment occurs in September; employees must sign a paper to either sign up for the program or decline participation.

The flexible spending accounts are monitored by CBIZ. For detailed information on the Health Care Flexible Spending Account, click here. Medical expenses must be incurred between October 1 of a given year through December 15 of the following year. These plans are “use it or lose it”.  You must spend all the funds by December 15, or you will lose the remaining funds.  All claims must be submitted by December 31. For detailed information on the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, click here.

There are two ways to be reimbursed when you incur a qualifying expense. You can use your Take Care Debit Card. The following two documents contain information about the Take Care Debit Card: Take Care Card General Information & Take Care Debit Card FAQs.  Alternatively, you can pay for the expense up front and request reimbursement. Here is the Claim Form.

You can monitor your account online. If you have any questions, you can contact CBIZ at (800)815-3023 and press option four.