Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) help you save for qualified medical expenses. However, the two vary in terms of benefits and eligibility.
Which account is right for you?
Health Savings Account (HSA)
An HSA isn’t available to everyone. You’re eligible to participate only if you meet all of the following criteria:
- You are enrolled in the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).
- You are not enrolled in any other non-HDHP medical plan, including Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE.
- You cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.
- Neither you nor your spouse are enrolled in a Health Care General Purpose FSA (only a Limited Purpose FSA is allowed).
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is an easy way to pay for healthcare expenses that you have today and save for expenses you may have in the future.
If you currently have an HSA with another bank and would like to transfer or rollover the funds, please review the below HSA Transfer Request Form.
See IRS Publication 502, “Medical & Dental Expenses” for a complete list of expenses covered by your HSA.
IMPORTANT INFO:
When Spreetail opens an HSA for an employee, UMB Bank must verify the employee's information per the USA Patriot Act. UMB Bank may reach out to you via email/mail asking you to confirm your identity. Please do NOT ignore these communications as your account will be closed unless you verify your information.
How the High Deductible Health Plan with HSA works?
Employees enrolling in the HDHP plan will receive an HSA contribution from Spreetail ($500/year if enrolling by yourself and $1,000/year if enrolling with any dependents) to help offset your annual deductible, cover qualified medical/dental/vision expenses or save for the future. The annualized contributions will be deposited based on your payroll frequency. Contributions to your HSA are pre-tax contributions, which lower your taxable wages. The HSA employer contribution is split up over 12 or 26 pay periods. If you start after January 1st, the employer HSA contribution is pro-rated amongst the remaining pay periods in the year.
Your HSA will automatically open with UMB Bank through Navia when you enroll in the HDHP. Unused funds roll over every year and are owned 100% by you; unused HSA funds do not return to Spreetail, and they can be invested in several mutual funds or a brokerage account.
You can contribute pre-tax funds to your HSA in addition to Spreetail’s contribution up to the IRS annual limit. The IRS maximum HSA contribution for 2026 is $4,400 for individual, $8,750 for family. If you are a new hire and enroll in the HDHP with an effective date before 12/1, you can make a full year contribution for that year. However, you must then stay enrolled in an eligible HDHP for the entirety of the following calendar year or risk a tax penalty.
Your HSA account is set up automatically after you enroll.
Four reasons to love an HSA
01
Tax-free. No federal tax on contributions, or state tax in most states. Withdrawals are also tax-free as long as they’re for eligible healthcare expenses.
02
No “use it or lose it.” Your balance rolls over from year to year. You own the account and can continue to use it even if you change medical plans or leave the company.
03
Use it now or later. Use your HSA for healthcare expenses you have today or save it to use in the future.
04
Boosts retirement savings. After you retire, you can use your HSA for healthcare expenses tax-free, or for regular living expenses, taxable but no penalties.
Health Care FSA
You don’t have to enroll in one of our medical plans to participate in the healthcare FSA. However, if you are enrolled in the HDHP plan and you contribute to an HSA, you can only participate in the “Limited Purpose” FSA for dental and vision expenses.
Set aside healthcare dollars for the coming year
- A healthcare FSA allows you to set aside tax-free money to pay for healthcare expenses you expect to have over the coming year
How health care FSA works
- You estimate what you and your family’s out-of-pocket costs will be for the coming year. Eligible expenses include office visits, surgery, dental and vision expenses, prescriptions, even eligible drugstore items.
- You can contribute up to annual limit of $3,400 ($2,550 pro-rated for 9 months), which is set by the IRS. Contributions are deducted from your pay pretax, meaning no federal or state tax on that amount.
- During the year, you can use your FSA debit card to pay for services and products. Withdrawals are tax-free as long as they’re for eligible healthcare expenses.
- The plan year runs from 1/1/26 to 9/30/26. FSA plans follow the basic rule of “use it or lose it”. However, the Medical FSA plan has a $680 rollover provision from one plan year to the next. All out-of-pocket claims incurred during the plan year must be submitted within 90-days from the end of the plan year. All other eligible charges can be paid for with the provided debit card.
Important info:
- Spreetail company code: RTA
- Registration site: www.NaviaBenefits.com
- Phone: 425-452-3500 or Toll-Free: 1-800-669-3539
Dependent Care FSA
Here's how the Dependent FSA works
You set aside money from your paycheck, before taxes, to pay for work-related day care expenses. Eligible expenses include not only child care, but also before and after school care programs, preschool, and summer day camp for children under age 13. The account can also be used for day care for a spouse or other adult dependent who lives with you and is physically or mentally incapable of self-care.
If married, it is important to remember that to be eligible for this benefit a few additional things must be true: 1) your spouse is also employed, 2) your spouse is a full-time student, or 3) your spouse is incapable of self-care.
You can set aside up to $7,500/annually ($5,625 pro-rated for 9 months) per household per year. You can pay your dependent care provider directly from your FSA account, or you can submit claims to get reimbursed for eligible dependent care expenses you pay out of pocket.
September 30, 2026 – last day to incur eligible expenses to be reimbursed from 2026 Dependent Care plan.
December 29, 2026 – Claim Deadline – This is the last date that you can submit claims for eligible expenses incurred between 1/1/2026 - 9/30/2026.
Any funds remaining after claim deadline will be forfeited.
Estimate carefully! You can’t change your FSA election amount mid-year unless you experience a qualifying event. Money contributed to an FSA must be used for expenses incurred during the same plan year. Unspent funds will be forfeited.
If you want to participate in the FSA for 2026, you must ACTIVELY enroll!
Disclaimer: This presentation provides a summary of the employee benefit programs offered by Spreetail. Should any discrepancies arise, please refer to the actual plan documents, which supersede this presentation. Once enrolled, you will receive a Combined Evidence of Coverage and Disclosure Form detailing the exclusions, limitations, and the full range of covered services of your plan.