Q19 – I have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) that I use for healthcare and childcare expenses. Because of the coronavirus I’m not using it as much as I planned. Will I lose my money if I don’t use it all?

It depends.  We are actively working with the company that manages these plans to find you options for keeping all your 2020 FSA contributions.  These might include options for increasing the amount you can roll over to 2021 and/or extending the time you have to spend your current contributions.  While we don’t have all the specifics yet, here is what we know right now: 

If you have a Dependent Care FSA to help pay for childcare: 

  • You may reduce or stop your FSA contributions if your regular childcare is no longer available 
  • You may restart your FSA contributions whenever your childcare arrangements change 
  • Use the FSA consumer portal or mobile app to get your claims processed faster 
  • Use the FSA consumer portal to set up direct deposit to get your reimbursements faster 

If you have a Healthcare FSA to help pay for medical, dental, eyecare, etc.: 

  • At this time, you cannot reduce or stop your FSA contributions during the year 
  • Mercury is working with the plan provider to find options for keeping unused 2020 contributions 
  • If you are concerned that your unused 2020 contributions will be more than $500, we can discuss options with you. 
  • Use the FSA consumer portal or mobile app to get your claims processed faster 
  • Use the FSA consumer portal to set up direct deposit to get your reimbursements faster