FSA Store Adds Deadline Tool to Help Consumers Use FSA Funds

FSA Store has launched a tool designed to help consumers use flexible spending account (FSA) funds and ensure they don’t forfeit them at the deadline.

The new FSA deadline tool serves the 70% of FSA users who have Dec. 31 as their use-it-or-lose-it deadline, the company said in a Monday (Dec. 2) press release.

“Our new deadline tool allows individuals and families to find a custom fit for their remaining FSA funds or budget, so they get more value out of their tax-free benefits,” Rachel Rouleau, chief compliance officer for FSA Store parent brand Health-E Commerce, said in the release.

The top reason people forfeit unused funds at the time of the deadline is that they don’t understand what is eligible, Rouleau said.

To help overcome that challenge, the FSA Store added the deadline tool to its online store dedicated to selling FSA-eligible products and services, according to the release.

The tool enables users to type in their FSA budget, select the types of products they are interested in for their personal health needs, and receive a list of eligible items that are within their budget, the release said.

It adjusts the remaining available budget as the user places items in the shopping cart, ensuring they don’t spend more than the amount they specified, the release said.

Consumers lose $4 billion each year when the use-it-or-lose-it feature of FSAs kicks in and the money disappears from their FSA accounts, Banyan President Alpesh Chokshi told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in September.

There is a rush as patients figure out what is eligible and decide how to allocate their funds, Chokshi said.

Banyan’s platform and receipt-level data underpin a collaboration between loyalty program Bilt Rewards and Walgreens designed to eliminate the friction and waste surrounding FSAs and healthcare savings accounts (HSAs).

Another firm that aims to help individuals use their HSAs or FSAs, Truemed, launched in September 2023. Truemed partners with health and wellness brands and integrates their payment systems to make it easier for consumers to use their HSA/FSA funds and to unlock the estimated $140 billion held in these accounts.