The Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA), administered by Optum Financial, allows you to set aside up to $3,200 per year to pay expenses not covered by other benefit programs. You don’t pay any federal or state income taxes on FSA contributions, so your money goes further.
What you need to know
You choose your FSA contribution for the year, up to $3,200 in 2025. The amount will be deducted in equal parts from each paycheck.
Because of the tax advantages, the IRS does not allow you to use a General Purpose Health Care FSA and a Health Savings Account (HSA) at the same time. If you’re enrolled in the Anthem CDHP with HSA or Kaiser CDHP with HSA and you enroll in an FSA, it will automatically be designated a Limited Purpose FSA.
General Purpose Health Care FSA
- Available if you are enrolled in the Anthem Base PPO or Kaiser HMO
- Use it to pay for:
- Medical deductible, copays, and other costs not covered by your medical plan
- Prescription drugs
- Over-the-counter medicine and other health care needs
- Dental deductible, copays, and other expenses not covered by your dental plan
- Glasses, contact lenses, and other expenses not covered by your vision plan
Limited Purpose FSA
- Applicable if you are enrolled in the Anthem CDHP with HSA or Kaiser CDHP with HSA
- The Limited Purpose FSA cannot be used for medical or prescription drug expenses.
- Use it to pay for:
- Dental deductible, copays, and other expenses not covered by your dental plan
- Glasses, contact lenses, and other expenses not covered by your vision plan
- Once you have satisfied the IRS minimum medical deductible for the year (in 2024, $1,600 for an individual or $3,200 for a family; in 2025, $1,650 for an individual or $3,300 for a family), you can convert your Limited Purpose FSA to a General Purpose Health Care FSA by following these steps:
- Log in to the Optum Financial website.
- Click on the FSA tab.
- Under I Want To… on the right side of the screen, select Certify I’ve Met My Medical Deductible from the drop-down menu of More actions….
- Follow the instructions to upload documentation showing you have satisfied the minimum medical deductible. Note that the IRS-required deductible is not the same as the CDHP deductible.
- Once your request has been processed by Optum Financial, you will see your FSA designation on the Optum Financial site change from “Limited Use” to “General Purpose.”
HSA vs. FSA
Both accounts allow you to pay for eligible expenses with pretax money, but there are important differences.
What you need to do
- Elect your FSA contribution during Open Enrollment. You must make an election every year, because your contribution amount does not roll over from year to year.
- Estimate your expenses carefully, because you can roll over only up to $640 from 2024 to 2025 and $660 from 2025 to 2026. Any rollover funds will not be available for claims in the new year until after March 31.
- The easiest way to use your FSA is by paying with the debit card you receive from Optum Financial—no paperwork required.
- You can also access your account and submit out-of-pocket claims using the Optum Financial website or the Optum Financial app.
- Incur eligible expenses from January 1 through December 31, and claim reimbursements by March 31 of the following year.
- Save your receipts. You may be asked to provide copies to confirm your expenses.
- Don’t miss the reimbursement deadline. You have until March 31 of the following year (or up to 90 days from the day you leave Lam—whichever is earlier) to submit eligible expenses for reimbursement.