What are the Flexible Spending Accounts and Dependent Care Assistance Accounts?

Created by Michelle Lucey, Modified on Fri, 7 Feb at 12:49 PM by Isaac Rubal

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) - Healthcare

- A flexible Spending Account (FSA) is a savings account where you contribute pre-tax dollars for use on eligible medical expenses for yourself and eligible dependents. FSAs can help employees lower their taxable income by setting money aside pre-tax that will be used for expenses such as: Co-pays and deductibles for Dental, Vision, Medical expenses, RX prescriptions, over the counter (OTC) items such as cough syrup, Band-Aids, and even sunscreen.

- When you sign up for an FSA through our carrier Igoe, you are provided a debit card to complete purchases of eligible expenses. You can also submit receipts of eligible expenses through the claim process with IGOE for reimbursement of the eligible expenses. Account review and claims can be submitted online by creating an account on Igoe's website - Igoe - Login Landing Page.

- An extensive list of all eligible expenses and resources to purchase eligible expenses can be found at The FSA Store - Eligibility List.

- As the FSA accounts provide a significant tax advantage, there are strict rules and regulations associated with these accounts.

As an employee, you may contribute up to $3,300 pre-tax dollars in the 2025 year per IRS regulations.
For 2025, unused funds will carry over into the following plan year up to $660. Unused funds over $660 will not carry over into the following plan year and will not be returned to yourself. This is known as the "Use it or lose it" rule
Expenses must be purchased through September 30th, 2025 in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Claims must be filed by December 31st, 2025 in order to be eligible for reimbursement.
If you are enrolled into a Health Savings Account (HSA), you cannot enroll into the healthcare FSA. This is known as "double dipping" and can impact your tax filings.

- Additional Resources, videos, and forms can be found online at Igoe - Resources.

Dependent Care Assistance Plan (DCA)

- Dependent Care Assistance Plans commonly referred to as Dependent Care - FSAs, is similar to the Healthcare FSA. The Dependent Care Assistance plan, allows employees to contribute pre-tax dollars into a savings account for use on eligible daycare related expenses for a qualifying dependent under the age of 13 or a dependent deemed medically incapacitated to facilitate their own care.

- Common expenses include; Baby sitting, before and after school programs, nursery or pre-kindergarten school or similar programs.

- An extensive list of eligible Dependent Care Assistance expenses can be found at DCFSA - Eligibility List.

- Dependent Care Accounts provide a significant tax advantage, similar to FSAs, there are strict rules and regulations associated with Dependent Care Accounts.

As an employee, you may contribute up to $5,000 pre-tax dollars per household in the 2025 year. If you are married or are filing separately, the individual limit is $2,500 per parent/guardian/domestic partner.
Dependent Care accounts do not carry over into the following plan year. Unused funds will be forfeited at the end of the plan year.
Expenses must be purchased through September 30th, 2025 in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Claims must be filed by December 31st, 2025 in order to be eligible for reimbursement.
If you are enrolled into a Health Savings Account (HSA), you are still eligible to submit enrollments into the Dependent Care Assistance Plan.

- Additional Resources, videos, and forms can be found online at Igoe - Resources.

Important Information

- You may participate in both the Healthcare FSA and Dependent Care Plan, signing up for one does not prevent you from electing enrollment into the other plan.

- Enrollment and changes to the plan are only allowed in the following instances; New Hires within 30 days of their date of hire, Annual Open Enrollment, and Qualifying Life Events (QLEs).

- If you are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) you cannot enroll into the healthcare Flexible Spending Account but may still enroll into the Dependent Care Assistance Plan.

- Expenses must be purchased through September 30th, 2025 in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Claims must be filed by December 31st, 2025 in order to be eligible for reimbursement.

- If you are uncertain whether an expense would be eligible for reimbursement on either the healthcare FSA or dependent care assistance plan, you may contact an Igoe representative at; 800-633-8818 Option #1 24/7, 365 days a year. Live agents are available Monday - Friday 5am - 5pm PST.

- All resources, videos, explanation of benefits, eligible expense lists, claim forms, etc. can be found online at;