Wake Forest offers two types of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), the Health Care FSA and the Dependent Care FSA.
Both plans are administered by Stanley, Hunt, DuPree & Rhine (SHDR), a subsidiary of BB&T.
Both FSA plans come with a debit card that can be used at approved merchants. The debit card allows participants to make payments for eligible expenses but documentation may be required for any transaction so it is important to keep all receipts.
Health Care FSA
The Health Care FSA allows you to set aside pre-tax money to pay for eligible medical expenses that are not covered by your medical, dental, or vision plans. For plan year 2011-2012, up to $6,000 can be set aside in a health care FSA to reimburse yourself for eligible expenses from July 1 to June 30. Eligible expenses can include office co-pays, prescription drug co-pays, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums for you and your eligible dependents. To determine if your expenses may be eligible, please view a list of eligible expenses.
Dependent Care FSA
The Dependent Care FSA allows you to set aside pre-tax money to pay for eligible dependent care expenses, including but not limited to before and after school programs for children under age 13, nursery or pre-school tuition and summer day camps. It is important to always check with our FSA provider, SHDR, to determine if a expense is eligible. You can set aside up to $5,000 (per household) in a dependent care FSA to reimburse yourself for eligible expenses from July 1 to June 30. To determine if your expenses may be eligible, please view a list of eligible expenses.
How Does an FSA Work?
- During enrollment, those who choose to participate elect an amount they forecast for eligible personal health care and dependent care expenses for the coming plan year.
- The elected amount is divided into equal increments and withheld on a pre-tax basis from each monthly or bi-weekly pay during the plan year.
- All NEW participants will receive two debit cards at no cost. The cards will be used in future years if FSA plan is re-elected. The debit card can be used to pay for prescription drug co-pays, office co-pays, plan deductibles and co-insurance, eligible over-the-counter expenses and dependent care expenses at point of purchase, providing the service or retail provider can take a debit card as payment. For dependent care expenses, only the amount that has been deducted year-to-date from a paycheck can be reimbursed. For health care expenses, the annual election is available after the first payroll contribution.
- Documentation may be required to validate the expense as eligible. This request will come in either letter or email form. The impacted participant is required to respond within 21 days or the debit card may be frozen. All documentation can be emailed to .
- The FSA administrator will reimburse the participant via check or direct deposit if the debit card is not used and the participant has submitted a reimbursement form with acceptable supporting documentation.
- Unused FSA funds will be forfeited (“use it or lose it” rule).
- The FSA plan year runs from July 1 – June 30.
- Claims can be submitted until September 30 for expenses incurred during the previous plan year.
Continuing Coverage: COBRA Option
Under federal COBRA law, you also have the right to pay your FSA contributions (plus 2%) on an after-tax basis after your employment ends to keep your access to your annual election amount for the rest of the year. This option may be particularly important to you if you have a high balance in your FSA account and have not yet incurred an eligible expense, as it keeps your access to the account open after your termination.
Id Cards
- You may request a new SHDR debit card by calling 800-930-2441 (fee may be required)
