A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) helps you save money on eligible health care and dependent care expenses by using pre-tax dollars. You can participate in a Health Care FSA (covering medical, dental, and vision expenses), a Dependent Care FSA, or both. HealthEquity administers both types of FSAs to make managing your funds simple and straightforward.
Getting started
When enrolling, you’ll decide how much to contribute to each account based on your anticipated expenses for the year. Your contributions are deducted from your paycheck before taxes, helping you save on every dollar you set aside. 2026 (IRS maximums)
- Health Care FSA: Up to $3,400
- Dependent Care FSA: Up to $7,500
If you’re enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) like Aetna Smart Care, you can elect a Limited Purpose Health Care FSA(LPFSA). This account can be used for dental and vision expenses throughout the year. Once you meet your HDHP deductible, you can also use it for medical and prescription drug expenses. To access the required LPFSA claim form, log into HealthEquity, download the form, and submit the required documentation.
Grace period extension
Don’t worry if you have FSA funds remaining at year’s end. You have until March 15 of the following year to incur additional eligible expenses using your prior year’s funds. The deadline to submit these expenses for reimbursement is April 30.
How to access your FSA funds
The HealthEquity Visa® Healthcare Debit Card
When you enroll in a Health Care FSA, you’ll automatically receive a HealthEquity debit card—the most convenient way to access your funds. Use your card for copays and other eligible expenses at the time of service or when paying a bill. The card is accepted at most locations where health care products are sold, including pharmacies, drug stores, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and online drug stores. See the complete list of eligible expenses.
Automatic Health Plan Claims (AHPC)
Alternately, you can elect to have your medical and dental carriers send co-pay, deductible, and coinsurance details directly to HealthEquity for reimbursement. AHPC must be enabled each year—it won’t renew automatically. If you don’t act, it stays off. Selecting this feature will deactivate your HealthEquity Healthcare Debit Card.
To turn on AHPC for the plan year, log into Workday > Select Menu from the upper left corner > Benefits and Pay > Benefit Links > Flexible Spending Account.
From the HealthEquity member portal, select the FSA plan year > About This Program > Program Options > AHPC, and select “On” or “Off” > Save Changes.
When choosing the AHPC option, consider the following:
- Spousal and dependent claims information will also be transmitted each month. However, if you have a dependent child between the ages of 19 and 25 enrolled in the Yale Health Plan, claims will not be transmitted automatically and you will need to file claims directly with HealthEquity.
- Over the counter medications and vision expenses must be submitted to HealthEquity directly.
- Do not submit claims for out-of-network medical expenses directly to HealthEquity. These types of expenses will be sent to HealthEquity via the automatic reimbursement of claims process (if selected).
- Do not select this feature if you have a secondary insurance program.
- Do not select this feature if you are covering a civil union partner under your health insurance or if you are enrolled in a Health Savings Account as part of a high-deductible health insurance plan.
Reimbursements typically process based on when your provider submits the claim to your carrier and can take up to 60 days.
Submitting claims and accessing your account
When you incur an eligible expense, the money will be reimbursed from your account. Reimbursement is based on the date the service was incurred, not the submission date for reimbursement. Account balances and submitted claims can be found on the HealthEquity home page.
- Log in to Workday with your NetID and password.
- Select Menu from the upper left corner > Benefits and Pay > Benefit Links > Flexible Spending Account.
