Important: Medical Flex Spending & HRA Account Information

If you have a medical flex spending or HRA (Health Reimbursement Arrangement) account, you should be receiving statements in the mail this week.

As a reminder:
Medical Flex Spending
The plan year for your flex spending account runs from June 1 through May 31. Under the “use it or lose it rule,” all expenses must be incurred by May 31, 2010. You do have 60 days (July 31) from the end of the plan year to submit receipts for reimbursement, but you must have incurred the expense by May 31, or you will lose it.

Items reimbursable under the plan include all out-of-pocket medical, dental and vision expenses. This includes glasses, contacts, contact lens solution, deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance amounts. You may also be reimbursed for any over-the-counter medical expenses, such as cold medicine, aspirin and band-aids. Pharmacies such as Walgreens can print out a list of all the prescription co-pays you have paid over the last year, and you can submit that list as a receipt. Check with your pharmacy to see if it has this service available.

Medical Flex Spending Claim forms are available by going to the Employee Dashboard>Intranet>Benefits>Medical Flex Claim Form.

HRA (Health Reimbursement Arrangement)
The plan year for your HRA runs from June 1 through May 31. However, if you plan to continue your employment with Heartland, any monies left in your HRA account at the end of the plan year will roll over to next year. Expenses may be turned in for reimbursement back to the first year that you had an HRA account with Heartland. Monies remaining from the 2009-2010 year may also be used for expenses that occur in future years.

HRA claim forms are available by going to the Employee Dashboard>Intranet>Benefits>HRA Claim Form. Claim forms for the HRA and medical flex spending cannot be interchanged.

Questions about your medical flex spending account or your HRA may be directed to Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14385 or to Kabel Business Services at (515) 224-9400.

Important: 2010 Benefit Enrollment—Deadline is April 25, 2010

Online benefit enrollment began Monday, April 5 and will close Sunday, April 25. As a reminder, the scheduled benefit meetings have been canceled in an effort to give staff members more time to do their jobs and to reduce expenses.

Please take some time to view video presentations on the changes to your Wellmark Blue Choice plan, results from the insurance survey and helpful plan information on the flex, HRA and vision coverage. These videos, along with PDFs about how to find a hospital or doctor, using the Wellmark website and helpful information about prescription drugs (finding out what tier they are on, whether a generic is available and checking your prescription for drug interaction) are available on the Employee Dashboard>Intranet>Benefits>2010 Benefit Information.

After viewing the videos, you may proceed to online benefit enrollment through the Employee Dashboard under the Benefit Enrollment tab.

For questions, please contact Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14385.