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FAQs About Managing an LPFSA

After initial enrollment, employees and employers can make changes to their LPFSA contributions in only three cases: before the plan year begins, before a new hire's effective date, and in the case of a qualifying life event. Please contact Support in order to change LPFSA contributions after experiencing a QLE.

LPFSA contribution changes due to a QLE must reflect the nature of the event. For example: 

Acceptable Changes 

  • If an employee's dependent turns 26, it would be acceptable for the employee to decrease their LPFSA contribution to reflect the loss of a dependent. 
  • If an employee adopts a baby, they may want to increase their elections to accommodate the new expenses for the new family addition.
  • If an employee gets married, they may want to increase their elections to accommodate the new expenses for their spouse. 
  • If an employee's spouse loses their job (and therefore loses coverage), it would be acceptable for the enrollee to increase their LPFSA contribution (or sign up for the first time). 
Unacceptable Changes 
  • An employee wants to reduce their LPFSA contributions because they decided not to pursue a treatment they had previously planned to have done ( i.e. Braces, Lasik surgery). The reduction would not be an acceptable QLE.

Zenefits supports simultaneous participation in a LPFSA and Child & Elderly Care FSA and in a Child & Elderly Care FSA, LPFSA and an HSA. For the latter, the Flex Benefits system will automatically use up the LPFSA funds before the HSA funds.

As an employee, you can only change elections to your personal LPFSA during the renewal period or after experiencing a qualifying life event, such as a change in marital status or the birth of a child. If you have experienced an applicable qualifying life event, please contact Zenefits Customer Care. Make sure to include the date of the Qualifying Life Event, as well as what the event was.

No. You can have both a LPFSA and Child & Elderly Care FSA, but they are funded separately, and funds cannot be transferred between the two. For example, If you have both accounts and try to make a Vision purchase, but do not have enough funds in your LPFSA, your purchase will be declined regardless of the balance in your Child & Elderly Care FSA.

You can view the total available funds in your LPFSA and/or Child & Elderly Care FSA in the Flexible Spending Account app. Simply click on the app from your dashboard and look for your LPFSA funds under Benefits Summary.

If you've gone through a qualifying life event (QLE) and would like to enroll in an LPFSA, contact Zenefits Customer Care within 30 days of the event and provide: 

  • Written (emailed is fine) confirmation of the desired contribution amount.
  • The desired type of FSA (Health Care FSA, Limited Purpose FSA and/ or Child & Elderly Care FSA).
  • The date of the QLE.
Please note that FSA QLE requests must be submitted by the employee; no requests coming from company administrators will be permitted.

Changes to an LPFSA due to a QLE will take effect the first of the month following the event date. If the QLE is due to the birth of a child, then the effective date of the change will be the first of the month in which the event took place. Please note that the employee's annual election will be split between the number of pay periods between the effective date and the LPFSA renewal. Therefore, deductions might be higher than expected.

LPFSA contribution changes due to a QLE must reflect the nature of the event. For example:
Acceptable Changes 
  • If an employee's dependent turns 26, it would be acceptable for the employee to decrease their LPFSA contribution to reflect the loss of a dependent.
  • If an employee adopts a baby, they may want to increase their elections to accommodate the new expenses.
  • If an employee gets married, they may want to increase their elections to accommodate the new expenses for their spouse.
  • If an employee's spouse loses their job (and therefore loses coverage), it would be acceptable for the enrollee to increase their LPFSA contribution (or sign up for the first time).
Unacceptable Changes
  • An employee wants to reduce their LPFSA contributions because they decided not to pursue a treatment they had previously planned to have done ( i.e. Braces, Lasik surgery). The reduction is not an acceptable QLE.

If you paid out of pocket for an expense that’s covered by your LPFSA, you can submit a claim to receive a reimbursement. 
To submit a claim, follow these steps: 
  1. Click on the Flexible Spending Account app on your dashboard.
  2. Click on the Claims tab at the top of the page.
  3. Click on the Submit a Claim button.
  4. Enter information about your expense and upload a receipt.
  5. Click Submit.
Employees who no longer have access to their Zenefits dashboard, but are still within the claim submission window, can send the following completed forms to claims@zenefits.com. 
Once you have submitted a claim, then you may check the status in your Zenefits dashboard. To do so, click on the Flexible Spending Account, Health Reimbursement Account or Commuter Benefits app. From there, select Claims. You could see four different statuses:
  • Sent: The claim is pending review from our claims team
  • Approved: The claim you have submitted has been approved for reimbursement
  • Denied: The claim you have submitted was not accepted for reimbursement. You will receive an email notification informing you of the reason it was denied.
  • Partially denied: The claim was partially approved, however, there was a piece of the claim that was not eligible for reimbursement. You will receive an email notification informing you of the reason it was denied.
A status of “N/A” indicates that the claim was submitted previous to our system update. Please allow 3-5 business days for your claim to be reviewed.
There are three common reasons why your LPFSA purchase (either with your Zenefits Card, or by submitting a claim) was denied: 
  • The expense isn't eligible. Learn more about eligible Child & Elderly Care FSA  expenses or Health Care FSA/ LPFSA expenses.
  • Your plan hasn't started yet. You won't be able to use the funds before the start date.
  • Your balance is insufficient to cover the expense. 
You can check your available funds and your plan's start date in your Flexible Spending Account app. Simply click the app on your dashboard, then look under Benefits Summary to view your available funds and start date.

To determine why your claim was denied, open the Flexible Spending Account app, click "Claims," and hover over the question mark next to the "Declined" status.

If you have any questions or concerns about why your claim was denied, you can reach Zenefits FlexBen Claims Department at 1(866)-609-4655.
Some COBRA participants have the option to continue using their Limited Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) funds through COBRA. Note that this does not apply to Dependent Care FSA.
Not everyone who is eligible for COBRA is eligible to continue using their LPFSA. If you are eligible and choose to enroll in the COBRA LPFSA, then you'll be required to continue paying towards the annual LPFSA election. 
The remainder of payment will be split into monthly payments, and your funds will be auto debited on the first of the month and deposited into the employer account.
If you are within your initial COBRA enrollment window and would like to see if you are eligible, please contact our Customer Care team.
If you are a company administrator and aren't sure if your employee is eligible, please contact our Customer Care team.
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Limited Purpose Flexible Spending Accounts (LPFSAs)

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