Due to recent Internal Revenue Service guidance in response to the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, GW is providing increased flexibility to the university’s 2020 and 2021 Flexible Spending Accounts. Grace periods and deadlines to submit eligible expenses for reimbursement have been extended. Additionally, employees are able to increase/decrease their 2021 FSA election or newly elect an FSA without experiencing a Qualifying Life Event.
Grace periods and deadlines to submit your eligible expenses for reimbursement have been extended for employees who:
- Have a remaining balance in their 2020 Health Care FSA (HCFSA) and/or Dependent Day Care FSA (DCFSA) AND
- Have elected a HCFSA and/or DCFSA for 2021.
The grace periods are being extended from March 15 to December 31. This allows you and your eligible dependents to incur eligible HCFSA and/or DCFSA expenses for an additional nine months. In addition, the deadline to submit your eligible expenses to Payflex for reimbursement is extended by 12 months.
Please review the important dates and deadlines in the chart below:
| If your FSA enrollment is for… | Your eligible expenses should be incurred between… | Claims for reimbursement must be submitted to… | By the claim deadline of… |
| 2020 Health Care and/or Dependent Day Care | January 1, 2020 (or your coverage effective date (whichever is later) – December 31, 2021 | PayFlex | April 30, 2022 |
| 2021 Health Care and/or Dependent Day Care | January 1, 2021 (or your coverage effective date (whichever is later) – December 31, 2022 | PayFlex | April 30, 2023 |
Mid-Year Change or Newly Electing a 2021 FSA
Employees who currently have a 2021 FSA election are eligible to make a mid-year change to their FSA election regardless of whether they have experienced a qualifying life event (i.e. marriage, adoption).
Additionally, employees who are not currently enrolled in a 2021 FSA may newly elect to enroll mid-year without a qualifying life event (i.e. marriage, adoption).
The following FSA changes are allowed to be made through calendar year 2021:
- Increase your current FSA election
- Decrease your current FSA election*
- Newly enroll in a 2021 FSA
*Special note about decreasing an FSA election: Employees may not reduce an election below the amount that has already been reimbursed or has been contributed, whichever is higher. For example, if an employee has contributed $500 to a 2021 DCFSA, and would like to cancel all future DCFSA elections, the employee would select $500 as their new contribution.
How to Submit Eligible Expenses to PayFlex
- Submit claims directly to PayFlex online or with a paper claim form.
- Attach the appropriate documentation including: an explanation of benefits (EOB), receipt or invoice.
- Documentation must include: provider or full name of product, patient name, amount and date(s) of service.
Make Changes via EasyEnroll
1) Login to EasyEnroll
2) Select “Click Here” then “Enroll Now” under Benefits enrollment
3) Select “FSA Mid-Year Change” at the end of the Live Events list
4) Continue through the prompts to make changes to your elections
5) Save a copy of your confirmation for future reference
When Are Changes Effective?
Your FSA election changes are effective the 1st of the month following the date you make a change in the EasyEnroll System or the 1st of the month if the change is made on the 1st of a month.
