Welcome to our COVID-19 Information and Solutions page. Here you can find information on a variety of topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on plans we administer. This includes federal regulatory changes and guidance, new COVID-19 related plan options, remote open enrollment meeting tools and more.
We will keep this page updated with any related changes or impacts. We are continuously monitoring the situation and updating our information as quickly as possible.
For Our Broker Partners: If you need to discuss any information on this page, please email sales@benstrat.com.
For Our Clients: If you need to discuss any information on this page, please reach out directly to your dedicated Account Manager or email clientservices@benstrat.com.
For information on COBRA deadline relief, including when the relief expires, please review our below FAQ:
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 was signed into law on December 27, 2020. Included are various options employers may choose to add to their Flexible Spending Account (FSA) plans to provide relief for employees whose FSA elections may have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you would like to make changes to your FSA plan, please click the link below to complete the form. Below is a high-level overview of each of the changes included in the legislation. Please note that none of these changes are mandatory. Employers have the option to make one or more of the changes, all of the changes, or make no changes at all. Should an employer choose to make changes, those selections will be in addition to the mandatory one year filing extension already in place.
Please note: If a form was previously submitted, all prior submissions will be disregarded and the most recent submission will be used.
Benefit Strategies Note: If your Health FSA plan ends December 31, 2020 and you already have the carryover provision on your Health FSA, please be aware that the normal automatic rollover, up to your plan’s rollover maximum, will happen on January 1, 2021 as planned. If you choose to allow the change for all unused amounts to rollover, including for Dependent Care FSAs, we will handle those rollovers separately.
On May 12, 2020, the IRS released two notices providing increased flexibility with Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA). Notice 2020-29 allowed for mid-year elections and extension of the plan year end date, as well as Notice 2020-33 provided a permanent change to the maximum amount permitted on the FSA rollover option. Options under Notice 2020-29 have expired. Since Notice 2020-33 is permanent, that option is still available now and for future plan years. It allows for the maximum rollover amount on a Health FSA to be equal to 20% of the federal plan maximum election amount for that plan year. If you wish to add the rollover option to your Health FSA or to increase the rollover maximum amount, please contact your Account Manager.
The IRS permits changes to an election for the below situations (called Qualifying Events). We are continually monitoring regulations to determine if any new Qualifying Events will be permitted due to the extraordinary circumstances being experienced across the country.
Qualifying Events Due to Employment Changes:
Other Qualifying Events:
How To Make A Change To Your Health FSA Election If You Have Experienced A Qualifying Event:
NEW! If your normal method for submitting FSA changes is submitting our paper FSA Status Change Form, please note we now have an electronic fillable form and no longer use the paper form. The electronic form can be found by clicking the button below. You can also access the form from the FSA page in the Resources section of benstrat.com.
The IRS permits changes to an election for the below situations (called Qualifying Events). We are continually monitoring regulations to determine if any new Qualifying Events will be permitted due to the extraordinary circumstances being experienced across the country.
Qualifying Events Due to Changes in Childcare Arrangements:
Qualifying Events Due to Employment Changes:
Other Qualifying Events:
How To Make A Change To Your Dependent Care FSA Election If You Have Experienced A Qualifying Event:
NEW! If your normal method for submitting FSA changes is submitting our paper FSA Status Change Form, please note we now have an electronic fillable form and no longer use the paper form. The electronic form can be found by clicking the button below. You can also access the form from the FSA page in the Resources section of benstrat.com.
IRS regulations allow participants to make changes to Parking and Transit elections at any time. This includes decreasing or increasing your election amount or suspending enrollment in the plan.
How To Make A Change To Your Parking and/or Transit Account Election or Suspend Enrollment:
You will need to contact your employer so they can update your payroll records and they will then notify Benefit Strategies to make the change in our system. Keep in mind your employer may have deadlines for the changes to be made in time for the following payroll.
IRS regulations allow HSA account holders to make changes to the amount they are contributing to their HSA at anytime. This includes no longer making any contributions.
How To Make A Change To Your HSA Contribution Amount:
You will need to contact your employer so they can update your payroll records and they will then notify Benefit Strategies to make the change in our system. Keep in mind your employer may have deadlines for the changes to be made in time for the following payroll or other policies surrounding timing of HSA contribution changes.
Clients should always use their normal method for submitting changes to Benefit Strategies.
If your normal method for submitting FSA changes is submitting our paper FSA Status Change Form, please note we now have an electronic fillable form and no longer use the paper form. The electronic form can be found below. You can also access the form from the FSA page in the Resources section of benstrat.com.
Mid-Year FSA election changes: You can use our calculator below to determine the impact of a mid-year FSA election change.
Two permanent changes to FSA and HSA eligible expenses have been made under the federal CARES Act law signed March 27, 2020. Both of these changes are retroactive and effective for expenses incurred on or after 1/1/2020.
1) Over the Counter (OTC) drugs and medicines no longer require a prescription to be eligible. This includes products such as cough syrup, allergy medicine and pain relievers.
2) Menstrual care products (i.e. tampons, liners, pads, cups, etc.) are now eligible.
Contact sales@benstrat.com for a proposal or to learn more.