You’ve opened a FSA, HSA or HRA account with your employer and have been issued a debit card to use for eligible health care expenses, but how exactly does this card work and when can you use it?
A debit card may be issued if you are participating in one of the above plans (FSA, HSA or HRA). Debit cards are accepted wherever VISA is accepted and is an extremely efficient way to pay for uncovered health expenses such as co-pays, deductibles, medical supplies and prescription drugs.
As an alternative of keeping paper receipts and waiting to be reimbursed for medical expenses, debit cards are an easy way to have instant access of the funds. Debit cards for FSA, HSA and HRA accounts are only accepted for applicable health expenses covered by the plan. This can include medical expenses (including dental and vision) as well as items like prescription glasses and over-the-counter medications.
Employees are encouraged to keep a record of all itemized receipts when the debit card is used in case they were to be audited. In the case of HRA accounts, not all doctor offices or pharmacies are required to accept the HRA debit card as a form of payment. Additionally, employees are still required to submit a manual claim to the TPA after they utilize their debit card for healthcare providers, except in the case that the pharmacy is able to process the claim automatically. It’s essential that you review the rules of your health care account properly to ensure you are properly submitting expenses and using the funds for covered expenses.
TPA Stream is building tools to make managing health data easier for administrators, brokers and employers. Our first offering is focused on attacking pre-tax health accounts. Our proprietary cloud based platform harvests claims data and EOBs automatically on behalf of employees and then electronically sends the data to the administrator’s benefits administration software for reimbursement and substantiation with little or no human intervention! As a result, administrative costs are significantly reduced and employees avoid the hassle of submitting claims.
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