mid year fsa
Mid-Year Election Changes Now Allowed: June 14-28
The Government of the District of Columbia has taken advantage of the temporary Flexible Spending Account (FSA) provisions included in the year-end spending bill to provide you with much-needed relief during these unprecedented times.

The District offers all benefit-eligible employees two pre-tax FSA benefits: the Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA) and the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA). These accounts allow you to pay for eligible, out-of-pocket health and/or dependent care expenses. You must designate the amount to be set aside in your FSAs every plan year.

MID-YEAR ELECTION CHANGES NOW ALLOWED
Mid-year election changes will be permitted without a qualifying life event for the following plan type(s) and reason(s):
Plan type(s) allowing mid-year
election changes
Change(s) that can be made
without a qualifying event
  • Medical FSA
  • Dependent Care FSA
  • Commuter Benefits (Transit and Parking FSAs)
  • New mid-year elections
  • Increase of existing elections
  • Decrease of existing elections
  • Revocation of existing elections

Changes can be made through PeopleSoft Employee Self Service (ESS) at https://ess.dc.gov from any computer with internet access.

MID-YEAR OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD
A mini open enrollment period will be available to allow you to enroll in our available FSA plans outside of the typical enrollment period.
  • Start date: June 14, 2021
  • End date: June 28, 2021
  • Effective date for changes: July 4, 2021
Employees can claim up to the new annual pledge amount on or after the effective date of July 4, 2021. Any eligible expenses prior to July 4, 2021 can be claimed up to the annual pledge enrolled into during 2021 Open Enrollment. The original election is available for reimbursements from the effective date of the election until the date of the change. After that reimbursements are allowed up to the new amount.
  • Example: If someone starts with a $500 election on 1/1/2021 and increases it to $2750 on 7/04/2021, only $500 is available for services incurred from 1/1/2021 through 7/03/2021. Services incurred 7/04/2021 and going forward will be reimbursed up to $2750 (taking into consideration claims that were already reimbursed prior to 07/04/2021).
Please Note: For employees who choose to decrease their original annual pledge for HCFSA it must be equivalent or higher than the amount already claimed. If not, then it will be automatically updated to the amount claimed for 2021.

2021 MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION AMOUNT LIMITS
HCFSADCFSACommuter Benefits
$2,750 (Annually)
  • $10,500: Single or married and filing jointly
  • $5,250: Married individuals filing separately
 $270 (Monthly)
 
PLAN YEAR END
Keep in mind the following regarding your FSA plan year end. The 2020 plan year end date for The Government of the District of Columbia is: December 31, 2020.

UNUSED FUNDS CAN NOW BE CARRIED OVER
Good news! All remaining funds from your 2020 plan will be carried over to 2021. Any funds leftover can be used until the end of the 2021 plan year: December 31, 2021. This is applicable to the following FSA plan types:
  • Medical FSA
  • Dependent Care FSA
CONTACT

DCHR Benefits & Retirement Administration
Benefit Resource, Inc. (BRi)
Additionally, DCHR recommends you create an online account through Benefit Resource, Inc. at www.benefitresource.com. This will allow you to view your current FSA balances throughout the year. You will need the following login information :
  • Company Code: DCGOV
  • User Name: Social Security Number
  • Password: Zip Code
2021 LIFE INSURANCE RATE CHANGES
If you have noticed an increase on your Life Insurance premiums, please visit http://dchr.in.dc.gov/page/2021-life-insurance-rate-changes for more information. Please note: Secure or VPN connection is required for access.