Coronavirus Resources & Information – Employer

Our Benefit Plans And COVID-19: Information and Solutions To Help

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.

This Page Has Been Updated To Include Information On The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 Signed Into Law December 27, 2020

  • The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 - New

      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.

      Action Needed

      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.

      Please note: If a form was previously submitted, all prior submissions will be disregarded and the most recent submission will be used.

      CONSOLIDATED ACT FORM

        1. Permit Health and Dependent Care FSAs to carryover all unused amounts from plan years ending 2020 to plan years ending 2021. This is also permitted for plan years ending 2021 to plan years ending 2022.

          2. 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.

        2. Permit a 12-month grace period for unused benefits or contributions in Health FSA and Dependent Care FSA for plan years ending in 2020 and 2021.
        3. Permit Health FSA participants who terminate during the 2020 or 2021 plan year to spend down their unused balances for expenses incurred through the end of the plan year in which the termination occurred, including any grace period.
        4. Permit the maximum age of eligible dependents for Dependent Care FSAs to be through age 13 (currently through age 12) for the 2020 plan year and for unused amounts from the 2020 plan year to be carried over into the 2021 plan year.
        5. Permit a prospective change in election amounts for Health and Dependent Care FSAs for plan years ending in 2021 without a corresponding change in status event.
  • IRS Cafeteria Plan Amendments
  • DOL Guidance on Extensions of Claim Filing and Appeal Deadlines
  • Information on Qualifying Events For Enrollment and Election Changes
      Healthcare FSAs and Limited Purpose FSAs

      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:

      • You or your legally married spouse’s termination of employment
      • Your legally married spouse’s commencement of employment
      • You or your legally married spouse’s change from part-time to full-time, or full-time to part-time status
      • You or your legally married spouse’s unpaid Leave of Absence (LOA)

      Other Qualifying Events:

      • Marriage
      • Divorce
      • Birth or Adoption
      • You or your legally married spouse’s or your dependent’s death

      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.

      Status Change Form

      Dependent Care FSAs

      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:

      • You no longer need childcare
      • You no longer need childcare as frequently
      • You have had a change in the amount you pay for childcare (increase or decrease)
      • You now need childcare - this is a Qualifying Event to add the Dependent Care FSA if you are not currently enrolled.

      Qualifying Events Due to Employment Changes:

      • You or your legally married spouse’s termination of employment
      • Your legally married spouse’s commencement of employment
      • You or your legally married spouse’s change from part-time to full-time, or full-time to part-time status
      • You or your legally married spouse’s unpaid Leave of Absence (LOA)

      Other Qualifying Events:

      • Marriage
      • Divorce
      • Birth or Adoption
      • You or your legally married spouse’s or your dependent’s death

      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.

      Status Change Form

      Parking and Transit Accounts

      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.

      Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

      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.

      How changes can be made with BenStrat

      Clients should always use their normal method for submitting changes to Benefit Strategies.

      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 below. You can also access the form from the FSA page in the Resources section of benstrat.com.

      Status Change Form

      Mid-Year FSA election changes: You can use our calculator below to determine the impact of a mid-year FSA election change.

      Assess Impact of Mid-Year Election Change

  • CARES Act Provides New Section 213d Eligible Expenses
      • The CARES Act

        • What this means for you

        Over-the-counter items eligible under an FSA

        New! 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.

        Eligible Expense Lists

  • Online Shopping Options for FSA and HSA Eligible Expenses
  • Services We Offer To Assist During This Time
      • Direct Billing of furloughed and LOA employees
      • Emergency Assistance Plans
      • Work From Home Expenses Plans

      Contact sales@benstrat.com for a proposal or to learn more.

Blog

Follow our biweekly HSA GPS blog so we can work in collaboration on HSA administration.

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Manchester, NH 03101
Directions to this office

Mailing Address
Benefit Strategies
P.O. Box 1300
Manchester, NH 03105-1300

Toll Free: 1-888-401-FLEX (3539)
Phone: 603-647-4666
Fax: 603-647-4668
Email: info@benstrat.com

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