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The 2005 open season for the Flexible
Spending Account (FSA) program for career employees is scheduled for November
14 through December 31, 2005, 5:00 P.M.
CT. Enrollments made during this open season are effective January 1,
2006, for the 2006 plan year (January 1 through December 31, 2006). (Enrollment
ends sooner for participants who separate or have extended leave without
pay.)
FSAs allow employees to set aside a
portion of their pre- tax earnings for certain types of out-of-pocket
health care and dependent care expenses. The money withheld for FSAs is
not subject to income, Medicare, or Social Security taxes.
United Health Care administers the FSA program for the Postal ServiceTM.
The booklet FSA BK1, Flexible Spending
Accounts (November 2005), provides a good overview of FSAs. The following
information should assist local personnel offices in conducting this open
season.
New 2 1/2 Month FSA Grace Period
On May 18, 2005, the Internal Revenue
Service decided to allow a grace period of 2 1/2 months (January 1 through
March 15) after each FSA plan year. During the grace period, eligible
expenses with dates of service from January 1 through March 15 can be
paid from the prior year's FSA plan if there still is an available balance.
The intention is to let an FSA participant with FSA funds left at the
end of the plan year be reimbursed for eligible expenses for services
or items received during the grace period. The grace period reduces worry
when the end of the year approaches. The use-it-or-lose-it risk is lessened
because participants will have an extra 2 1/2 months to use up FSA funds.
Of course, participants do have to spend the prior year's balance by March
15 or forfeit the money under the use-it-or-lose-it rule. And the deadline
for filing claims has not changed - the FSA Customer Service Center must
still receive all claims by September 30 of the year after the plan year.
The grace period is only available to FSA participants who are still participating
on December 31 of the plan year. For example, an employee who retired
on December 30 would not be eligible for the grace period. But most FSA
participants remain participants through December 31 of the plan year.
The grace period is available for both
the Health Care FSA and the Dependent Care FSA and is available for 2005
and 2006 FSA participants. The grace period for the 2006 FSA is from January
1, 2007, through March 15, 2007. The grace period for the 2005 FSA is
from January 1, 2006, through March 15, 2006. For full details, refer
to FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts (November 2005), the FSA
brochure that is being mailed to all career employees.
Use PostalEASE to Enroll
To enroll in the FSA program during
open season, employees have four options:
1. Call toll free: 877-4PS-EASE
(877-477-3273).
2. Go to http://blue.usps.gov,
click on Employee Self- Service, then PostalEASE.
3. Use an Employee Self-Service
kiosk (available in some facilities).
4. On the Internet, go
to liteblue.usps.gov, enter Employee ID and USPS PIN to log on,
and under "Employee Self-Service," click on PostalEASE.
Publicity
To publicize the FSA open season, all
offices must post the open season notice, provided on page 1,
on bulletin boards through December 31, 2005.
Direct Mailings to Employees
Headquarters (HQ) Compensation is coordinating
FSA open season mailings to career employees at their mailing addresses
of record. Employees receive a leaflet, postcards, and an enrollment kit
consisting of an FSA brochure, a PostalEASE FSA worksheet, and a withdrawal
request form.
Undeliverable mailed kits are returned
to the employing office of record. When an office receives a returned
kit, the office should encourage the employee to update his or her address.
Employees should use one of the following methods to update their address:
• The Employee Change of Address
feature on the intranet (go to http://blue.usps.gov;
under "Employee Resources", click Employee
Self Service, then
Employee Change of Address).
• An Employee Self-Service kiosk
(available in some facilities).
If these methods are not possible,
employees should submit an updated PS Form 1216, Employee's Current
Mailing Address.
Personnel offices may order PS Form
1216 from the Material Distribution Center (MDC) and use touch tone order
entry (TTOE): Call 800-332-0317, option 2.
Note: You
must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call 800-332-0317, option
1, extension 2925, and follow the prompts to leave a message. (Wait 48
hours after registering before placing your first order.)
Use the following information to order
PS Form 1216:
PSIN:
PS 1216
PSN:
7530-02-000-7354
Unit of Measure:
SE
Quick Pick Number:
118
Bulk Pack Quantity: 4,000
Minimum Order Quantity: 1
Price:
$0.0187
Edition Date:
06/05
Eligibility
Participation in the FSA program is
limited to career employees. To enroll, a career employee must have completed
at least 26 full pay periods of postal career service during the current
appointment by the end of pay period (PP) 26-05 (December 23, 2005). A
career employee who is in a leave without pay (LWOP) status that has lasted
for eight consecutive full pay periods as of December 23, 2005, is not
eligible to participate in the FSA program. However, an employee who is
returning from uniformed military service may enroll, even if he or she
has exceeded the eight pay periods of LWOP.
Election Opportunities
Health Care FSA and Dependent Care
FSA
Eligible career employees may elect
to participate in one, or both, of two FSAs - the Health Care FSA and
the Dependent Care FSA. Each FSA covers eligible expenses for services
that are received during the employee's period of participation during
the 2006 plan year (for most employees this will be January 1, 2006, through
March 15, 2007). Employees who elect to participate must enroll via PostalEASE
no later than 5:00 P.M.
CT on December 31, 2005. FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts, the
brochure that employees receive in the mail, describes eligible and ineligible
expenses and provides guidelines for estimating 2006 expenses.
FSA Open Season Contribution Levels
For the 2006 plan year, eligible career
employees may elect to contribute up to $5,000 to the Health Care FSA.
Eligible career employees may also elect to contribute up to $5,000 to
the Dependent Care FSA. Contributions are withheld in equal amounts through
payroll deductions covering 26 pay periods (PP 01-06 through PP 26-06).
The minimum annual contribution employees may make to either FSA is $130
($5 per pay period).
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Election Changes and Enrollment Processing
Participants may neither cancel enrollments
nor change contribution levels during the plan year except following qualified
life status changes, as explained in FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts.
Open Season Materials
Direct Mailings to Career Employees
Each career employee receives the following
items at his or her mailing address of record during the open season:
• Publicity postcards:
- A postcard with instructions on how
to obtain a USPS® Personal Identification Number (PIN).
- Postcards on other topics, such as
using FSAs to cover over-the-counter medications and other eligible expenses.
- A postcard with a reminder of the
closing date.
• FSA LF1, Flexible Spending
Accounts Overview and Tax Savings Estimator (October 2005). This
leaflet provides an overview of the advantages of the FSA program.
• An enrollment kit that includes
the following items:
- FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts
(November 2005), a brochure that explains plan policies and provisions.
- The FSA PostalEASE worksheet.
- FSA1, Flexible Spending Accounts
(FSA) Withdrawal Request (November 2005), a form used to request
withdrawal of funds from an FSA for payment of eligible expenses for services
received during the period of participation.
Additional Supplies of Materials
During November, HQ Compensation coordinates
the distribution of extra supplies of the leaflet, the enrollment kit,
and copies of the worksheet and withdrawal request form to Human Resources
at district offices, area offices, processing and distribution centers,
bulk mail centers, airport mail centers, remote encoding centers, the
Office of Inspector General, Inspection Service divisions, Headquarters,
and selected Headquarters field units.
Additional copies of the following
FSA items will be available from the MDC but not until the distribution
of extra supplies has been completed. The relevant ordering information
follows.
Flexible Spending Accounts Overview
and Tax Savings Estimator
PSIN:
FSA LF1
PSN:
7610-04-000-5138
Unit of Measure:
EA
Quick Pick Number:
N/A
Bulk Pack Quantity:
2,100
Minimum Order Quantity:
1
Price:
No cost
Edition Date:
10/05
Flexible Spending Accounts
PSIN:
FSA BK1
PSN: 7530-02-000-9910
Unit of Measure: EA
Quick Pick Number: N/A
Bulk Pack Quantity:
250
Minimum Order Quantity:
1
Price: No
cost
Edition Date:
11/05
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Withdrawal Request
PSIN: FSA1
PSN: 7530-02-000-9911
Unit of Measure: EA
Quick Pick Number:
N/A
Bulk Pack Quantity:
2,000
Minimum Order Quantity:
1
Price:
No cost
Edition Date:
11/05
Responsibilities of Personnel Offices
Personnel offices are responsible for
the following tasks:
• Responding to employee inquiries
about eligibility.
• Determining a participant's
eligibility to enroll or to change contribution levels during the plan
year based on a qualified life status change.
Personnel offices are reminded of the
following points:
• Refer to PostalEASE
Update 2001-03 (June 4, 2001) for instructions on processing FSA elections
in cases of belated election or administrative error. These instructions
are found at http://blue.usps.gov/hrisp/hris/updates/postalease/2004/text/pe0406.htm.
• Employees should include health
care expenses for dependents in the Health Care FSA contribution amount
and not in the Dependent Care FSA.
• The Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) annual limits on the Dependent Care FSA contribution are $5,000
for a family and $2,500 for a married employee filing a separate return.
These limits are explained fully in FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Personnel offices do not process
Form FSA1, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) Withdrawal Request. Participants
are responsible for mailing or faxing Form FSA1 directly to the FSA Customer
Service Center in El Paso, Texas, as explained on Form FSA1.
• Personnel offices must not provide
tax advice. Offices must refer employees with tax questions to their tax
advisors or to the IRS toll-free information line at 800-TAX-1040 (800-829-1040).
In addition, a section of FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts,
presents certain tax information related to FSAs.
• Refer employees with questions
about the FSA program to the FSA toll-free hotline given below.
FSA Customer Service Center Toll-Free Hotline
For inquiries about FSAs, employees
should call the FSA Customer Service Center's toll-free hotline at 800-842-2026.
Following enrollment, participants may use the hotline to:
• Make account inquiries.
• Discuss expenses that are eligible
for payment through the FSA program.
• Obtain other plan information.
The FSA Customer Service Center also
provides a teletype (TTY) line at 866-206-7810 and 866-649-4869. The Center
encourages employees who want to use the TTY line to have a colleague
place an advance call to the toll- free hotline.
— Compensation,
Human Resources, 11-10-05
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Flexible
Spending Accounts (FSA) Open Season
FSA Policy Changes
See all changes described on page 12
of the FSA employee brochure, FSA BK1, Flexible Spending Accounts,
November 2005. This includes information about the new 2 1/2 month FSA
grace period.
Enrollment
Career employees must use the PostalEASE
enrollment system through one of the following means to enroll in FSAs
for 2006 during the FSA open season:
• Call toll free: 877-4PS-EASE
(877-477-3273).
• Go to http://blue.usps.gov,
click on Employee Self-Service, then PostalEASE.
• Use an Employee Self-Service
kiosk (available in some facilities).
• On the Internet, go to liteblue.usps.gov,
enter your Employee ID and USPS PIN to log on, and click on Employee
Self-Service, then PostalEASE.
If you have any trouble using PostalEASE,
or if you are unable to use the telephone because you are deaf or
hard of hearing, or if you cannot use the telephone, intranet, or an Employee
Self-Service kiosk for a medical reason, you may contact your local personnel
office for assistance.
USPS® Personal Identification
Number (PIN)
To use PostalEASE, enter your
Employee ID and USPS PIN. If you don't know your USPS PIN, call PostalEASE
and, when prompted to enter your PIN, simply pause. The system provides
an option to have your USPS PIN mailed to your address of record the next
business day. Or you may request a USPS PIN via the intranet or an Employee
Self-Service kiosk - just follow the instructions.
When
November 14 through December 31, 2005,
at 5:00 P.M. CT.
Eligibility
Career employees only - noncareer employees
are not eligible.
Plan Information
Leaflet and brochure with PostalEASE
FSA worksheet is included and mailed to all career employees.
If material is not received by November
28, 2005, contact your local personnel office.
Effective Date
FSA open season enrollments become
effective January 1, 2006.
Questions
Hotline for FSA questions: 800-842-2026.
TTY line for employees who are deaf
or hard of hearing: 866-206-7810 or 866-649-4869. An advance call to the
hotline is encouraged.
PLEASE POST
ON ALL BULLETIN
BOARDS THROUGH
DECEMBER 31, 2005.
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