They suck. It used to be fine. Starting last year, they arbitrarily deny claims, I have to appeal, etc.

This has been a repeated problem for me over the past 7 years of using FSAFEDS, particularly with dental expenses. We submit countless receipts that show every possible detail, and they still get denied asking for an itemized receipt. I am so sick of it that I am considering not using FSAFEDS anymore starting next year.

actually PP is correct. FSAFeds gets to keep unclaimed money. found out the hard way. when i transferred from one fed job to another fed job, no one told me that my FSAfeds account would not carry over. I lost my money. it wasn't a large amount but the point is that it's my money.

my HC plan isn't one that automatically reimburses, so it would take me quite a while to fill out all of the forms/claims. B/c of these headaches DH and I decided it wasn't worth the marginal tax savings.

this year b/c i am due in a month, i think i put away $500 (which isn't very much) but don't plan on using this program too much going forward.

it's a huge hassle.

Are you all dealing with the Health Care accounts or the Dependent Care accounts or both?

I HATE FSA feds!!! It's a huge rip off. I would much rather keep my own receipts and put them towards my taxes at the end of the year.

FSA Feds also has a unpublished policy about not reading emails that have attachments. However if they ask for documentation and you follow their broadly written directions of email or fax. If email, they will say they will not open the attachment. If fax, they can claim the documentation is illegible. I spoke with the claim rep and the supervisor and the fact that they don't own the ambiguities in their policies or interpret in favor of the customer is a clear sign that the customer is being endlessly jerked around for the sake of hoping the claimant will tire and go away.

You may think this is your money but it is clear from how I am being treated that this is not my money...
I think these people like to amend their policies on the fly so there is no accountability or fiduciary duty.

I just spent 8 frustrating months dealing with FSAFEDS in connection with my denied claim. After the 3rd appeal, FSAFEDS stopped communicating with me. I contacted the Office of Personal Management’s Office of Inspector General (FSA@opm.gov) in order to file a grievance. In about a week I had my money. If the Office of Inspector General could not help me, I would not hesitate to contact my congressman. These are at least two resources how to deal with FSAFEDS.

I have used FSA Feds since 2009. Worked fine until now. They deny claims, make me resubmit, etc. Major pain.

FSA rules changed under affordable care act, it's almost worthless now

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that is amazing. Ours is so easy, we do nothing. It is SOMEHOW linked to our insurance, so we automatically get back all co-pays. My child recently underwent a toncillectomy and I had to pay $500 out of pocket, within 3 weeks that $500 showed up in the mail. We do absolutly no claiming, it gets done for us automagically.
The childcare one, we do ourselves, but we claimed it 2 weeks ago and the 5K just hit our checking yesterday.

This is our experience as well.

I have been using FSAFEDS for 10 years and this is the first year I have had many claims denied. I would submit the requested information and they would deny for another reason. I have made multiple phone calls and received conflicting information and got denied again. My only recourse at this time is the APPEALS process.

It is my money and I should not have to go through all this to get money that I put into an account. And Yes! Any money not reimbursed goes to the the administrators of FSAFEDS. I fee like they were banking on some bonus money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This may be obvious to all here but I overlooked it! I retired fro federal service 9/24/2011. I was enrolled in FSAFEDS. I broke a molar and needed a crown in December. I filed for re-embursement but was denied as my eligibility ended on the date of retirement. I had 'assumed" that my FSAFEDS enrollement survived my retirement but it did not. Lost $1500 that way.

OMG!!!!!!

But the flip side is, if you spend $2500 in eligible expenses in January and retire (or quit) in February, you will not have to reimburse the amount you have not yet contributed. I am not saying it is fair, just that for the healthcare FSA this is how it works. On the Dependent care you can only obtain reimbursement after you have made the contribution. Of course, you can get ahead on your submissions so you just receive the contributions back as they are made.

That's not correct. If you quit in February and have already claimed more than you have had deducted from your paycheck you will have the remainder deducted from your final paycheck or you will have to send them a check.

Actually, that is correct. I have left jobs two times and both time I spent out my FSA without having to pay it back. The first time I thought it was a mistake but I checked the regulations and it does say that when you leave your job, you forfeit your remaining funds, but you also don't owe money if you spent more than you paid. I think they figure it would even out, or maybe they FSA companies come out ahead because most people probably leave money in their accounts without realizing they can't use it once they leave.

I cannot wait to opt out, its worst than preparing my taxes except you deal wtrh idiotic process rules. Wait that is the IRS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This may be obvious to all here but I overlooked it! I retired fro federal service 9/24/2011. I was enrolled in FSAFEDS. I broke a molar and needed a crown in December. I filed for re-embursement but was denied as my eligibility ended on the date of retirement. I had 'assumed" that my FSAFEDS enrollement survived my retirement but it did not. Lost $1500 that way.

OMG!!!!!!

But the flip side is, if you spend $2500 in eligible expenses in January and retire (or quit) in February, you will not have to reimburse the amount you have not yet contributed. I am not saying it is fair, just that for the healthcare FSA this is how it works. On the Dependent care you can only obtain reimbursement after you have made the contribution. Of course, you can get ahead on your submissions so you just receive the contributions back as they are made.

That's not correct. If you quit in February and have already claimed more than you have had deducted from your paycheck you will have the remainder deducted from your final paycheck or you will have to send them a check.

There is an IRS circular that says what is covered. You'll need to find the 2012 circular for claims for 2012, because what is reimbursable in 2013 is different because of the Affordable Care Act. I'd suggest re-submitting your claim with a big circle around what is considered reimbursable under the IRS rules.