You select the amount that you would like to put into your dependent care FSA account based on your needs for the coming plan year. Chard Snyder and your employer will let you know the maximum amount allowed.

Participants and their other eligible users should always save itemized receipts for HSA, FSA and HRA-eligible purchases made with the benefits card.

The most common reasons why a benefits card may be declined at the point of sale are:

The benefits card has not been activated. 
The benefits card has been used before the 24-hour waiting period after activation is over. 

Participants may use the benefits card to pay a hospital, doctor, dentist, or vision provider that accepts benefits cards. Auto-substantiation technology electronically verifies the transaction’s eligibility according to IRS rules. If the transaction cannot be auto substantiated, paper follow-up will be required.

The treatment of your Chard Snyder HSA Advantage™ account depends on who is the designated beneficiary. 

To add or update a beneficiary on your HSA Advantage™ account, visit the Profile tab when you log in to your account or contact us to request a Beneficiary Designation Form.

If you do not designate a beneficiary for the account, the money will be included in your estate and the value will be taxable on your final income tax return. 

You select the amount that you would like to put into your healthcare account based on your needs for the coming plan year. Chard Snyder and your employer will let you know the maximum allowed amount.

Eligible employees will enroll online or complete and turn in an enrollment form during the open enrollment period prior to the beginning of each plan year.

Generally, you cannot change the elections you have made after the beginning of the plan year. However, there are certain situations where you can change your elections.

Submit a claim online by logging into your account on the participant portal or on the Chard Snyder mobile app for quickest processing and reimbursement. 

An eligible expense is any healthcare or dependent care expense approved by the IRS for reimbursement through the plan.

Most plans allow you to continue to submit claims for purchases and services that you have already incurred.

Yes. The amounts that you have elected to contribute are for the duration of the plan year in which they are made.

Before the end of your plan year you should use up the money that was in your account at the time of the change.

Contact us to find out the requirements of your plan. You may submit claims for expenses from before the date you quit or lost your job.

You have to submit your claims within the time allowed by the plan.

Any unused funds remain with your employer per IRS guidelines.

Your natural, adopted and foster children who have not reached their thirteenth birthday and family members who cannot care for themselves are eligible.

The parent the child lives with most of the time may use the dependent care FSA account even if the other parent claims the child as a tax dependent.

The most a household can set aside is $5,000 a calendar year.

The IRS has identified several instances when you can change the amount you can put into the dependent care FSA account.

Under the dependent care FSA, your babysitter may not be your tax dependent under the age of 19 or your spouse.

You can submit a claim form and receive a check or direct deposit payment.

You may submit your claim at any time during your plan year.

The card is a convenience but you are not required to use it.

Submit a claim online by logging into your account on the participant portal or on the Chard Snyder mobile app for quickest processing and reimbursement. 

If the Chard Snyder Benefits Card cannot verify that the expense meets IRS guidelines, Chard Snyder will ask you to submit copies of your itemized receipts.

When you use your benefit card to pay for services from a medical provider such as a hospital, clinic, doctor or dentist, you may receive a letter from Chard Snyder asking you to provide paperwork to verify that your claim was for an eligible expense.

Yes, and be sure to have the provider include the employee’s name and their employer so that we can match the information to your flexible spending account (FSA).

We cannot contact the provider on your behalf due to HIPAA regulations.

If your claim needs to be verified, you will receive an email or letter from Chard Snyder requesting an itemized receipt, insurance explanation of benefits (EOB) or an itemized statement from your doctor or provider.

Usually the service provider can provide an account history or replacement receipt.

A “Request for More Information” is sent when the information provided is not sufficient to allow us to approve the transaction.

An “Ineligible Expense Request” is sent when it has been determined that the transaction in question included an ineligible expense.

Your HRA is designed by your employer to reimburse you for certain eligible healthcare expenses.

Yes. All eligible employees must enroll each year during the open enrollment period.

Per IRS regulations, employees are not permitted to contribute to an HRA plan.

An eligible HRA expense is any healthcare expense incurred by an employee, their spouse, or dependent, that is approved by the IRS and eligible for reimbursement under your specific company plan.

Submit a claim online by logging into your account on the participant portal or on the Chard Snyder mobile app for quickest processing and reimbursement. 

You may find your balance by logging in to your participant portal account from chard-snyder.com.

It depends on your HRA plan. Your specific plan rules can be found in the participant portal, or Chard Snyder or your human resources office is available to assist you.

If you leave your current place of employment or become ineligible for the HRA you will not be able to take your HRA funds with you.

An HSA is a personal bank account created exclusively for individuals to pay for eligible healthcare expenses and save for future healthcare expenses tax-free.

You are eligible as long as you meet the following criteria listed below:

Yes. You may withdraw funds to pay for the qualified medical expenses of yourself, your spouse, or a dependent without tax penalty.

Maximum annual contributions to your HSA are determined by the IRS each year.

The overall guiding rule for medical expenses is that the expense has to be for medically necessary purposes only.

You are responsible for that decision, and therefore should familiarize yourself with what types of medical expenses are considered to be qualified (as partially defined in IRS Publication 502).

You can only use your HSA to pay health insurance premiums if you are collecting federal or state unemployment benefits, or you have COBRA coverage through a former employer.

No. As long as you use your HSA only for eligible medical expenses, you will never have to pay taxes on the money.

How you use your HSA is solely between you and the IRS.

Once funds are deposited into the HSA, the account can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses tax-free, even if you no longer have HDHP coverage.

If you use your HSA for an expense other than eligible medical expenses you can subject yourself to significant IRS penalties. Inappropriate use of your HSA funds may also leave you without money to pay for your eligible medical expenses in the future.

The HSA is yours and will stay with you even after you have left your current employer.

You can continue to use your account tax-free for out-of-pocket health expenses.

No. You cannot reimburse qualified medical expenses incurred before your account was established.

Joint HSAs are not permitted.

If both husband and wife are eligible to contribute to an HSA, they are both eligible to establish separate HSAs.

Yes, if you are both eligible individuals and both have established HSAs in your own names.

Your Chard Snyder Benefits Card will be mailed to the address you provided on your application within 7-14 business days after your account has been set up.

Log in to your account on the participant portal or on the Chard Snyder mobile app to indicate your preferences regarding how you’d like to receive regular HSA statements (via email or paper copy). 

You can check your account balance on your monthly statement by going to your online account, calling Chard Snyder or your bank.

The discounted rate for prescriptions is provided at the cash register, so use your benefit card for maximum convenience.

Yes, this is a personal bank account in your name.

If you do not have enough money in your HSA to pay for an eligible medical expense you will need to pay for the expense by some other means.

Any unused contributions in your HSA will accumulate year after year tax-free until you need them.

Yes. Your company will advise you when you need to do this and provide you with the necessary forms.

If you are in an employer-sponsored plan you will normally make deposits through payroll deductions coordinated by your HR office.

You will receive two tax forms on an annual basis, the 1099-SA and 5498-HS.

Yes. You may check with Chard Snyder or see the investment options in the participant portal.

The employer identifies who is eligible to participate (within IRS discrimination requirements), what the maximum monthly contributions are for the plan and the duration of each plan period (typically month to month).

Employees enroll in the plan through their employer before the beginning of the plan period.

Employees are permitted to make election changes throughout the plan period.

When parking expenses cannot be paid for with the Chard Snyder Benefit Card, Commuter Benefits parking plan participants can submit claims online through the participant portal or the Chard Snyder mobile app. 

Eligible expenses are parking, mass transit and/or vanpooling expenses incurred by an employee for the purpose of commuting to and from a place of work.

Any unused amounts left in the accounts at the end of the plan period are carried over into the next plan period.

If an employee terminates employment, participation in the plan will also terminate.

Employees' elections carry over from plan period to plan period.

As long as the date of service is within the plan year and the provider accepts MasterCard, you can simply write the card number on the statement and send it back to the provider or call the provider and give them the card number and expiration date (MM/YY) over the phone.

This depends on your specific program.

You may choose to use your benefits card by swiping it and providing a signature or through the use of a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) at the point of sale.

Card privileges are closed when we receive notification of a termination or resignation.

Benefits that are subject to ERISA are required to establish and maintain a written document to set forth the plan's terms and conditions.

Chard Snyder Plan Document Services gives you the comfort of knowing your plan documents are revised and maintained to make certain you are in compliance at all times.

A Plan Document is a written document that sets forth a plan's terms and conditions.

A Summary Plan Description (SPD), is a summary of an Employee Benefit Plan's terms that must be furnished to covered employees and other individuals.

A premium only plan (POP) is an IRS regulated, employer-sponsored benefits plan that allows employees to voluntarily redirect a portion of their compensation towards tax-free benefits.

Premium Only Plans are self-administered by the employer. The employer adds a section 125 premium only deduction code to their list of payroll deduction codes. The employer keeps good records of employees that are participating in the plan, and keeps a set of plan documents.

A wrap plan is a document that bundles an employer's health and welfare plans into a single plan, while incorporating and supplementing insurance contracts, booklets and certificates and providing necessary ERISA information.

Death of employee, termination, legal separation, Medicare qualification,  or loss of dependent are all qualifying events.

A qualified beneficiary is someone who is covered under the plan immediately prior to the qualifying event.

You will need to complete the form on page 7 of the election form in its entirety. Sign and date the form and return it to Chard Snyder for processing.

All premiums are due on the first of each month.

Yes, COBRA begins on the last day you had coverage before terminating employment.

There are a few methods of payment for COBRA: You may pay by check, bill pay, or online payments using checking/savings account (ACH) on our website.

Once you elect COBRA, you will receive coupons that can be used through the end of your plan year to remit payments.

COBRA allows a 30-day grace period. If your premium payment is not received within the 30-day grace period, your coverage will automatically be terminated without advance warning.

No, premiums cannot be prorated for a shorter period. You must pay the full premium amount for each month. Partial payments will be accepted, but cannot be reported to the carrier until the full amount has been paid. You will not have coverage until all premiums have been paid in full.

There is no difference in the insurance plan that you now have under COBRA. All plan rules and coverages are exactly the same as you had before you terminated employment. The only difference is that you are now paying the actual full cost of the premium instead of just the employee contribution amount.

Send all inquiries regarding coverage or claims activity directly to the carrier, just as you did before you elected COBRA.

Make your COBRA election as soon as you receive your Election Form and return it to us with the appropriate amount due immediately.

When your COBRA period has ended, it will be your responsibility to find other insurance coverage.

Please read the election form you received in its entirety. When you return your signed election form, make a copy before sending it to Chard Snyder and keep it for your records.

No, we are committed to protecting all your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in compliance with HIPAA and Privacy Act standards.

Your case manager gets to know you, your company and your employees on leave.

Your LSA is designed by your employer to reimburse you for certain eligible healthcare expenses.

LSA plans are customized for each employer.

Submit a claim online by logging into your account on the participant portal or on the Chard Snyder mobile app for quickest processing and reimbursement.

It depends on your LSA plan. Your specific plan rules can be found in the participant portal.