Syracuse University offers eligible employees the opportunity to contribute pre-tax dollars to a health care FSA administered by HealthEquity. If you elect a health care FSA, you can spend the funds on expenses for yourself, your spouse and your children, or other individuals that you claim as dependents on your tax return. Neither you nor your family members need to be enrolled in the Syracuse University health plan, or even enrolled in the same health plan.
It is important to note that under federal regulations, FSA elections do not continue into the next calendar year unless you take action during each year’s Open Enrollment period.
Contact HealthEquity at 877.924.3967 (TTY: 866.353.8058) should you have any questions on these benefits. Should you require accommodations to access any information on this webpage, please reach out to HR Shared Services at 315.443.4042.
Benefit Design
The health care FSA offers tax savings on eligible health care expenses for you and your eligible dependents (as defined by the Internal Revenue Code and the cafeteria plan) that are not covered as eligible expenses under any other health plan. You have access to the full amount of your annual election immediately.
The maximum amount you can contribute to a health care FSA in calendar years 2024 and 2025 is $3,200 and $3,300 respectively.
For calendar year 2024, $640 will be allowed to be carried over into 2025, with the maximum amount increasing to $660 into 2026.
Eligible Expenses
Services and products that are medically necessary to treat a specific condition are usually considered eligible health care expenses. Certain over-the-counter products, such as aspirin, allergy and stomach medications, including menstrual products, are also eligible to be reimbursed.
Only the portion of the cost not covered by other insurance is eligible for reimbursement. Cosmetic or non-medical expenses are not eligible. The HealthEquity website has a searchable database of eligible health care expenses. This list will help you appropriately budget your health care FSA each year.
Reimbursement Process
HealthEquity offers health care FSA participants a variety of ways to manage their accounts and receive reimbursements, including an automatic reimbursement option. If you enable this feature, generally, your member cost-sharing paid for a Syracuse University medical, prescription, dental or vision claim is forwarded from our claims administrators to HealthEquity and you will be automatically reimbursed. If you choose this option, in most situations, you do not have to save receipts or complete any claim forms to receive reimbursement from your health care FSA for these expenses.
Important Note Regarding Domestic Partners: Expenses for your domestic partner and/or their children are not eligible for reimbursement under your FSA unless they qualify as your dependents for federal income tax purposes. Therefore, to prevent receiving an overpayment which may result in adverse tax consequences, you should not activate the automatic reimbursement feature if you cover a domestic partner.
You may enroll in automatic reimbursement through MySlice when you first enroll as a newly benefits-eligible individual or during the annual Open Enrollment period. Should you wish to activate or waive these periods, please contact HR Shared Services to request assistance.
Filing a Claim
If you have not elected the automatic reimbursement option or have a health care expense that cannot be submitted through the automatic reimbursement option, there are three alternative methods you can use to submit your claims for reimbursement:
- EZ Receipts App: Allows you to file your claim from your smart phone or other mobile device.
- FSA Online Account: Log into the secure website to submit a claim and view all of your account information.
- Pay Me Back Paper Claim Form [PDF]: Complete the paper form and mail or fax your submission to HealthEquity with your receipts. Reimbursements will be sent to you via paper check as a default, but you can enroll in direct deposit online through your HealthEquity account.
Submitting your claim electronically eliminates the need to save paper receipts. Set up direct deposit of your reimbursements with HealthEquity to get your money even faster and avoid the hassle of taking a paper check to the bank.
Claim Filing Deadline:
Generally, the deadline to submit claims for expenses incurred during the plan year, which runs from Jan. 1 (or your enrollment date, if later) through Dec. 31, is April 30 of the following plan year. If you have questions about the deadline for submitting health care FSA claims, please contact HealthEquity at 877.924.3967 (TTY: 866.353.8058).
Changing Your Election
Typically, you can make your elections when you first become benefits-eligible, during a qualified family status change, or during Open Enrollment each year.
Helpful Links
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this website is accurate. However, the benefits are governed by legal documents (which, in certain circumstances, may include insurance contracts). If there is any difference between the information in this website and the official documents, the official documents will control. As is the case with all of Syracuse University’s employee benefit plans, the University reserves the right to modify or terminate these benefits at any time.