Tag: dependent care expenses

Narrator: Your health and the health of your family is a top priority at Costco. That’s why we are committed to providing you and your family with affordable benefits that help you receive quality care whenever needed. One of those benefits are the reimbursement accounts available through Inspira Financial. Here’s everything you need to know about reimbursement accounts.

There are two types of reimbursement accounts available to you as a Costco employee: the HCRA and the DCAP. The HCRA, or Health Care Reimbursement Account, allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars to reimburse yourself for eligible medical expenses such as co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance, dental and vision expenses, prescriptions, and over-the-counter items. Annual enrollment is the only time you can enroll in an HCRA account, and the HCRA must be reelected every year if you want to continue your account.

The DCAP, or Dependent Care Assistance Plan, allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars to reimburse yourself for qualified child and elder care expenses necessary for you and your spouse to work. Funds can be used to pay for child care for your dependents age 12 and younger, or for a spouse, parent, or dependent incapable of self-care. Examples of DCAP expenses are things like daycare, before and after school care, nursery and preschool, and in-home aides. Please note that the DCAP cannot be used for dependent health care expenses.

You need to enroll in the DCAP every year to continue your account. However, you can enroll, change, or stop your enrollment whenever there is a qualifying change to your dependent care needs throughout the year. Both types of accounts are funded by automatic pre-tax payroll deductions from every paycheck. If you choose to enroll in one or both of the reimbursement accounts during annual enrollment, you’ll be prompted to choose how much money you would like to contribute for the plan year up to the annual limit. Each account has an annual funding limit set by the IRS.

Funds will then be deducted pre-tax from your paychecks and deposited into these reimbursement accounts. While you can access the full amount of your annual HCRA election beginning January 1, with the DCAP, you can only access the amount currently in your account at the time of your reimbursement request. If you enroll in the HCRA, you’ll have a few different ways to access your account. The default reimbursement method is autopay.

The HCRA autopay feature will automatically pay your portion of medical, dental, and vision claims, including co-pays, deductibles, and coinsurance. If you have specific plans for your HCRA funds, like paying for braces, be sure to turn off autopay at the start of each year on the Inspira website or app.

You’ll also receive a debit card you can use to pay for eligible expenses at these locations— Costco Pharmacy, Costco Online Pharmacy, Costco Optical, and the Costco Hearing Aid Center. You can check your available account balance on your Aetna member website. For the DCAP, you can submit a claim for reimbursement as soon as you have an eligible expense through the Inspira website or app. You’ll be reimbursed up to the current balance in your account.

Before you enroll, take a look at your health care and dependent care expenses for the previous year, and think about needs in the coming year to get a sense of how much you would like to contribute. Keep in mind that if you are currently enrolled in an HCRA, you’ll want to think about whether you’ll have funds left in your account at the end of this year that you can roll over into next year. It is important to remember that funds in both accounts are “use it or lose it” per IRS rules. Only a small portion of your HCRA balance can roll over into the next plan year. This amount is determined annually by the IRS.

Only participants who have an active HCRA as of December 31 are eligible for this rollover. Any funds beyond the rollover amount are forfeited after the claim filing deadline. This is why it’s so important to consider your anticipated expenses for the coming year before selecting a contribution amount for each account. If you have a larger amount in your DCAP account than you expected as the end of the plan year approaches, you can take advantage of the grace period. The DCAP offers a grace period at the beginning of the following year, where funds from the previous year can still be used.

Don’t forget to submit all your reimbursement claims by the filing deadline, as any funds left over after this period will be forfeited. Be sure to calculate your contributions carefully. And that’s the basics. If you have any questions or need more information, just visit Costcobenefits.com.

Thanks for watching. And remember, we’re in this together.

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