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FLEX Plans

Premium Offset Plans (back to menu)
Employees currently paying a portion of their employer-sponsored medical, dental, or vision insurance plans on an after-tax basis through payroll reductions can elect to convert these contributions to a pre-tax basis, thus saving the Federal, FICA, and State (where applicable) taxes. In addition, the employer realizes tax savings as their employees’ gross earnings are decreased accordingly.

Flexible Spending Accounts (back to menu)
Through the use of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), employees can pay their out-of-pocket health care and dependent daycare expenses using pre-tax dollars. Expenses incurred for a wide variety of professional health care, dental, vision care, and even many over-the-counter (OTC) products that are not paid by an insurance plan, may be reimbursed by a Health Care Spending Account. Expenses incurred for dependent care, which allows the employee (and spouse, if applicable) to work, may be reimbursed by a Dependent Care Spending Account.

Each year, employees are given the opportunity to estimate the amount of money they expect to spend on out-of-pocket health and dependent care services during the upcoming year. A prorated portion of this estimate is then deducted from the employee through payroll reductions on a pre-tax basis and deposited into spending account(s). When the employee incurs out-of-pocket health care, dental, vision care, OTC or dependent care expenses, they may request reimbursement from their Flexible Spending Account. The employee saves the Federal, FICA and State taxes on the amount of compensation deducted from his/her pay.

At the end of the twelve-month Plan Year, employees may be given a two month and fifteen day extension to use any funds remaining in their FSA Accounts. During this period, employees may incur eligible expenses and submit them for reimbursement to exhaust these remaining funds.

Full Cafeteria Plans (back to menu)
Similar to the school cafeteria you used to visit, with its wide variety of food items, the full cafeteria menu plan offers many choices from which to choose. The employer gives each employee a predetermined amount of money/credits to spend on benefits. Employees then choose the benefits that appeal most to them from a menu of benefit offerings. The money/credits that are not used can be taken as taxable compensation or placed into a Health Care Spending Account.

A Full Cafeteria Plan requires careful planning, design, and set-up of a menu of benefits. This type of plan is becoming more and more popular in environments geared towards consumer-driven health plans and among employers trying to budget their benefit dollars and best meet the needs of their employees.

Health Reimbursement Arrangement (back to menu)
Internal Revenue Code Section 105 allows employers to offer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), which are plans consisting of employer funds only. These plans are based on the premise that the employer may elect medical insurance plans with higher deductibles, for example, and redirect the savings they realize to employees' ear-marked accounts to help pay for these higher deductibles.

High Deductible Reimbursement Administration (back to menu)
Under this employer self-insurance strategy, an employer may purchase a high deductible plan (such as a $1,000 deductible or higher) from their insurance carrier and then seed funds toward the deductible. This results in a lower deductible for the employees. Premium savings realized may be as much as 20%-50%, leaving funds available to meet deductible expenses.

Benefit Strategies offers a unique service to administer claims to employer specifications. This allows employers to choose the level of benefits they wish, while working to control their monthly premium costs.

Transit and Parking Reimbursement Plans (back to menu)
Benefit Strategies' Commuter Choice Benefit Plan, designed under the Internal Revenue Code Section 132(f), allows employers to offer their employees the choice to direct a portion of their salary into reimbursement accounts to pay for certain work-related parking and/or mass transit expenses on a pre-tax, salary reduction basis. Read More about this Plan >>

Methods of Reimbursements (back to menu)

FlexExpress© Card
Our convenient FlexExpress debit card allows participants quick access to Flexible Spending Account funds at the point of service.

Direct Deposit Services
Click Here for a copy of our Direct Deposit Form. This form allows your reimbursement check to be deposited directly into your checking or savings account.

Checks Mailed USPS
Checks are mailed weekly to those participants who do not choose the FlexExpress Card or direct deposit.

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For more specific details regarding our services and fees, please contact our Sales Department at (603) 647-4666 or visit our Proposal Request page.