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| FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS |
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| Highlights |
Valassis' Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
(FSAs) offer you a convenient way to pay for certain health and dependent
care expenses and to save on taxes at the same time. When you direct
a part of your before-tax salary to an FSA account, you lower your taxable
income for the year. This means you pay less in taxes and have more
take-home pay. You can then use these “tax-free” dollars
to pay for eligible health care and/or dependent care expenses.
There are three separate FSAs:
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A Health Care FSA—to pay for eligible
health, dental or vision care expenses for you or your dependents
that are not reimbursed or covered by the Valassis health care plans
(or any other health plan available to you or your dependents).
Certain over-the-counter
medical expenses are reimbursable through the Health Care FSA also.
You will be provided with a debit card for point of sale transactions.
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A Dependent Care FSA—to pay for eligible
dependent
care expenses, such as child or adult care expenses, that allow
you (or you and your spouse, if you are married) to work or attend
school full-time.
- A Limited Purpose Health Care FSA—for associates
enrolling in the Health Choice Savings plan allowing them to pay for
eligible dental and vision expenses. The two and a half month grace
period for submission of claims does not apply to the limited purpose
FSA.
You’ve made a smart decision to pay for part of your health care
or dependent care expenses, or
both using pre-tax dollars in the coming year. The FSA program makes
it easy to save on taxes
— up to thousands of dollars annually. And this QuickStart
Guide makes it easy to put it to work.
Inside you’ll find the quick-reference information you need to
pay for eligible expenses from your
account, get quick reimbursement, and keep track of your account balance
and payments — plus
tips for getting the most from the program and making your FSA work
smoothly. You’ll also find an
extensive list of eligible expenses for health care and dependent care.
Also, if you open a dependent care account, Valassis will match
a portion of your contributions (up to $600) to help you pay for child
and adult care expenses if you are hired before October 1st to be eligible
for the match for the next year.
Domestic Partners - claims for the Domestic Partner are not
reimbursable under the Flexible Spending Accounts due to IRS regulations,
unless the domestic partner is IRS-qualified and can be claimed on your
taxes. By electing FSA, an associate with a domestic partner will be
unable to take advantage of the debit feature where prescription claims
or provider copays would normally be paid directly from the FSA. All
claims would have to be processed with a flexible spending account claim
form.
Receipt Retention - It is very important to keep all of your
receipts throughout a plan year, even if you use the FSA debit card
exclusively. Having back-up records will assist in the timely resolution
of any discrepancies. Click here
to learn more about the importance of receipt retention.
Estimate Your Tax Savings
Model your own personal scenarios by using the calculator below to determine
whether or not you should contribute to an FSA, how much you should
contribute, and how much you can potentially save on your personal income
taxes:
Note: Because FSAs help you save on
taxes, they are tightly regulated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
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Summary
Plan Description
The legal summary of this benefit will be included in the
2008 Benefits Handbook.
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