Healthcare flexible spending accounts enable employees to save money on healthcare expenses by lowering their taxable income.
When you offer healthcare flexible spending accounts (FSAs), your employees can set aside pretax dollars through payroll deductions to pay for eligible medical, dental, and vision expenses — enabling them to save money by lowering their taxable income.
Employers who offer healthcare FSAs save money, too. Because FSAs are funded through pretax payroll deductions, employers who offer them do not pay Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes on their employees' contributions to these accounts (except for ministers' contributions).
Employees who participate in a healthcare FSA can use their account funds on a variety of eligible expenses for themselves, their spouse, and their eligible children, such as
Once enrolled in a healthcare FSA through the Board of Pensions, the employee receives a convenient Visa debit card from Further, the Board's partner in administering FSAs. When they have an eligible expense, they just swipe the card to pay for it, and the amount is automatically deducted from the account.
The IRS limits employer contributions to the Healthcare FSA based on how much the employee contributes: