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Flexible Spending Account (FSA) money normally has to be used by the end of the yr simply the COVID-19 relief bill signed by Congress last year gets yous one more year to spend. This means you now have until December 31, 2022, to spend FSA money earmarked for 2021.

The extension also applied for your 2020 FSA money, rolling over anything set aside that yr through December 31, 2021. We recommend checking your exact plan details to ensure you lot're making the most of your money and how much you're able to rollover each yr.

If yous still take FSA dollars to spend, consider FSAstore.com. FSAstore.com has thousands of items that are guaranteed to be covered by your FSA. Below, we answer frequently asked questions about FSA dollars, and how yous tin avert letting your money go to waste.

What is FSA?

Many employers offer access to Flexible Spending Accounts, which let y'all put away pre-tax dollars for eligible healthcare products and services (think everything from surgery and medical bills to thermometers and first-aid kits). Storing money in an FSA account is a great deal, provided y'all spend it before the almanac deadline.

How does FSA work?

FSA operates on a use-it-or-lose-it provision; y'all must spend the coin in your FSA account by the end of the twelvemonth or risk losing it for good. Typically, you'd either have to spend information technology all by a borderline (either December 31 or March 15) or coil a portion of information technology over.

The COVID relief bill changes things, though.

At present, you have another extra twelvemonth to spend your FSA dollars, through the finish of 2022. Put obviously: the FSA coin you lot accrued in 2021 will still exist available to you until December 31, 2022; similarly, the money you accrued in 2020 is available to spend through Dec 31, 2021.

FSA Store estimates that more than $400 1000000 is forfeited every twelvemonth in FSA funds considering employees either miss or forget their spending deadlines (based on estimates using data from the 2017 FSA and HSA Consumer Research conducted by VISA). It's your money and it's pre-tax — it doesn't brand sense non to utilise it.

What tin can yous purchase with your FSA money?

Yous can use FSA dollars to pay for medical expenses that aren't covered past a health plan, similar co-pays, deductibles, dental and vision care, or dependent daycare, though eligible expenses tin vary based on the plan. Only if it'southward nearing the end of the yr and you lot haven't used your money to assist meet your deductible or pay medical expenses, you have the pick of spending it on supplies like over-the-counter medication.

The nitty-gritty details depend on the plan your employer has in identify, but you can skip the brunt of research by shopping the pick at the FSA shop. They exercise the homework for you and curate more than than 4,000 products that are guaranteed to be covered. If they're somehow non, you lot become your money back.

The Elvie Pump is a hands-free, wearable electric breast pump without any cords, wires, or tubes. It reduces the time aspect of pumping significantly, since you can exist pumping while doing other tasks without worry.

Thinksport'south SPF 50+ Sunscreen offers optimal only affordable protection without any potentially harmful chemicals.

Get-go Assistance Merely's All-Purpose 200-piece First Assistance Kit is well-organized so you don't take to shuffle around too much looking for whatever it is you need when you need it most, and it's packed to the brim with high-quality medical essentials.

This wrist brace is adjustable so you can apply the correct corporeality of pressure level to help convalesce some pain you may experience from repetitive wrist movements. Dissimilar other wrist braces you may observe, this one tin be used for either hand. Downwardly to $15 from the FSAstore, this is a actually good cost to pay for such a versatile item.

Though a $ane discount may non seem like much, it's actually a 10% price cut from the typical selling price for a pack of these bandages from Welly. Non only are Welly Bravery Badges absorbent and flexible, they're also designed with fun patterns and come up in a reusable metal tin.

Artistic ways to spend your FSA money before the deadline

Hither are a few items on FSAstore.com that you tin purchase with your pre-tax money before you lose information technology: thermometers, feminine care, sunscreen, vitamins, condoms, high-tech healthcare (at-domicile defibrillator, nausea relief bands, vibrating shoe insoles, ovulation predictors), and travel pillows with orthopedic neck back up. View all categories here.

And since the new Affordable Care Act required over-the-counter medications (like Advil and Benadryl) to come with a prescription from a doc for FSA reimbursement, FSAstore created a Prescription Process that contacts your md for you, so you can become the information you need to complete the purchase.

Yous can also buy products from Warby Parker or Felix Grey spectacles with your FSA and HSA dollars as long equally your FSA or HSA carte du jour is affiliated with a major credit carte — y'all're even able to book an at-dwelling Zeel massage with it.

Mara Leighton

Senior Pedagogy and Personal Development Reporter, Insider Reviews

Mara Leighton is the senior educational activity and personal development reporter for Insider Reviews. In the spring of 2020, Mara spearheaded Insider Reviews' new instruction beat. She's reported on Yale's most popular course on happiness too equally essential workforce recovery programs, free instructional courses for non-ICU workers on operating mechanical ventilators, and a Johns Hopkins' contact tracing grade designed to fill thousands of remote jobs. She'south interviewed Google executives, presidential policy committee members, best-selling authors, leading researchers and professors, and NBC's Chuck Todd in her instruction coverage. She'southward most interested in personal evolution, skill-edifice, industry shifts, and increased accessibility for learners of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Previously, Mara covered e-commerce for Business Insider from 2017-2020. She'due south written thousands of reviews and explainers, profiled emerging and established D2C companies, blogged through major retail events, and forecasted and analyzed industry trends. She also produced the vertical'due south weekly newsletter. Say howdy at mleighton@businessinsider.com or tweet her @maraleighton. Larn more than almost how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Acquire more most how nosotros review educational and personal development products.

As a Tech Deals and Streaming Reporter for Insider's Reviews squad, Sarah covers the latest movie and series releases along with the best sales on products we recommend. Prior to joining Insider Inc., she was a Deals Writer at Wirecutter, a New York Times company. Afterwards graduating from California State University, Fullerton with a degree in Marketing, Sarah started out as a Freelance Deals Author at Wirecutter; here she focused on newsletter creation, social media promotion, and syndication in addition to deals writing before stepping into a full-fourth dimension function. Her accomplishments from this position, in add-on to the endless deals she's written, include implementing multiple social media marketing campaigns and launching a Deals Facebook group for the company. Say hi (or send a pic of your pet) to Sarah at ssaril@businessinsider.com, or reach her on Twitter at @LordPonty or on Instagram at @lord_ponty. Learn more well-nigh how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Learn more about how nosotros enquiry deals.