By DEBORAH STAYMAN
The Health Care Spending Account (HCSAccount), a new benefit negotiated by PEF and the state in the 1999-2003 PS&T contract, can help you pay for unreimbursed health-care expenses including medical, dental, vision, hearing and prescription-drug costs.

By enrolling in this program, you can set aside pre-tax dollars from your paycheck to cover unreimbursed health expenses.

You are eligible to enroll in the program if you are eligible to enroll in the NYS Health Insurance Program, although you don’t have to be enrolled in NYSHIP.

You could receive health insurance through a spouse employed elsewhere, but still participate in HCSAccount if you’re eligible for NYSHIP enrollment.

You must be a permanent employee, not a temporary hire. You must be in an annual salaried position; and you must work 50 percent or more on a regular schedule.

Employees are not eligible if they are: paid on an hourly, daily or fee basis; student employees; casual or seasonal employees; hired as temporary employees; or scheduled to retire before the plan year begins.

How to enroll
To request an enrollment kit, call 1-800-358-7202. Then, complete the enrollment form and submit it to your agency health benefits administrator (HBA) by November 17.

You may deduct any amount from $150 to $3,000 annually in pre-tax dollars.

You must estimate your out-of-pocket expenses for the coming calendar year and decide how much to deduct from your paycheck before taxes to contribute to your HCSAccount.

Be careful. Estimate conservatively. If you over-estimate your health-care expenses for next year, you can lose the money you did not use to cover eligible claimed expenses.

If you don’t file claims for reimbursement by the end of the calendar year or during the extra three months following the end of the year, you will lose any money remaining in your account.

Your estimate can include any of the following for you as well as family members:
• copays for prescriptions, office visits and lab costs;
• deductibles and other fees paid to non-participating providers;
• dental and vision costs that exceed annual insurance maximums; and
• medically necessary services and expenses not covered by insurance.
You should include regular, recurring expenses, not one-time costs.

The Internal Revenue Service sets the rules on eligible expenses, which include: any unreimbursed medical, dental and vision expenses such as copays and deductibles, acupuncture, braille books and magazines, capital expenses to install special equipment in your home for medical care for a family member, contact lenses and products required for their care, dental services, laser surgery for vision correction, and special telephone equipment for a hearing-impaired person.

More details are available in IRS Publication 502. Go to www.irs.ustreas.gov/plain/forms/pubs/pubs/p50207.htm to access this publication online.

Once you sign up, your deduction is set for the calendar year. Only certain “qualifying events” such as marriage, divorce, or the birth or adoption of a child may permit you to change the amount of your deduction.

How to tap your account
If you enroll, you will receive claim forms for reimbursement. Complete and submit a claim form with attached receipt, bill or invoice from your provider.

The plan administrator will either send you a check in two to three weeks or electronically deposit the money in your bank account.

At any time during the calendar year, a claim will be paid in full, up to the annual amount for which you have enrolled, even if your claim is greater than the balance in your account. So, if you incur large expenses early in the year, they will still be paid.

For more information about the HCSAccount, call 1-800-358-7202 or visit the web site at www.flexspend.state.ny.us.

For answers to general questions, call your agency HBA or PEF Health Benefits at 1-800-342-4306 or 518-785-1900, ext. 283.

New contract opens doors to greater tax savings on health, dependent care

Thanks to the new PS&T contract, you can save more than ever on your federal and state taxes by using the state Dependent Care Advantage Account to set aside pre-tax pay to cover dependent-care expenses.

Beginning with the 2001 Plan Year, the state will contribute up to $400 to a PS&T employee’s DCA account ($800 where both spouses are PS&T), based on salary.

This state contribution will be deposited in the employee’s account in early January, before any deductions are taken from the employee’s paycheck.

The new contract also allows employees for the first time to save on their taxes by setting aside up to $3,000 each year in pre-tax pay for out-of-pocket health-care expenses.

You may enroll in these programs for 2001 between October 16 and November 17 of this year. Learn more about these programs by attending informational meetings being held throughout the state. Information about meeting times and locations is being included with your paycheck. You may also get information from the Flex Spending Account Hotline at 1-800-358-7202, or online at www.flexspend.state.ny.us. — Sherry Halbrook