October 30, 2024 — The open enrollment period for the Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) benefit begins Nov. 1, 2024, and ends Dec. 9, 2024. 
The HCSA allows you to set aside any amount from $100 up to a maximum of $3,300 for the 2025 plan year to pay for health care expenses that are not reimbursed by your health insurance or other benefit plan.
Only medically necessary medical, hospital, dental, vision, hearing, prescription drug, and certain over-the-counter drug expenses for you, your spouse, and your eligible dependents can be reimbursed or paid by your HCSA.
There is a HCSA carryover provision. Unused contributions will carry over to the next plan year for the participant to use. During the plan year runout period (January 1 – March 31), the previous year funds may still be used for previous year expenses. Any remaining funds up to the IRS limit from the previous year will then carry over into the current year’s account balance after the runout period end date.
During the runout, the new plan year election will be depleted first, then carryover funds will be accessible for reimbursement. For participants who did not re-enroll, carryover funds will be available after the runout period ends.
The IRS carryover limit from 2024 into 2025 is $640 and will increase to a carryover limit of $660 from 2025 into 2026.
Enrollment must be completed online at https://app.mybentek.com/nysfsa. Even if you’re enrolled before, you must reenroll for the new plan year. You will need your NYS EMPLID number, located on your paystub. For more information, visit www.pef.org/benefits or https://oer.ny.gov/fsa. You can also call 1-800-358-7202.