How to Spend my Flexible Spending Account Money on Healthcare Expenses

A flexible spending account is a fantastic option to pay for healthcare expenses including doctor visits, medications and treatment with pre-tax dollars. Your employer must participate in a flexible spending account program and you must elect to have deductions taken out of your paycheck during your enrollment period in order to use it. Your employer can either issue flexible spending account debit cards or require that you submit expenses and be reimbursed.

Instructions

• 1

  First, know what expenses qualify under a flexible spending account. Doctors' visits, eyeglasses, orthodontia, orthopedic shoes, hearing devices, over the counter cold medicine, dental care and birth control are all covered. Cosmetic procedures such as teeth whitening or plastic surgery are not eligible. Make sure any expense you incur falls under a qualifying category.

• 2

  Use your flexible spending account debit card or keep a receipt of your transaction. Your debit card can be used like any bank card, but it must be used ONLY to purchase health items. If you're in a grocery store and are purchasing cold medicine and groceries, you must do two separate transactions, one for the groceries with your usual payment method, the second with your flexible spending account debit card. If your plan requires that you submit your expenses, ring up your items separately and keep the receipts.

• 3

  Monitor your flexible spending account balance. Not only do you not want to go over the amount in your account, you also do not want to have any money left over at the end of the year. Many employers' plans forfeit any amounts in your flexible spending account at the end of the year if it has not been used. Check with your human resources department to see what happens if money is leftover in your account.