When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate committee. Larn more.

Flexible Spending Business relationship (FSA) money usually has to be used by the cease of the year just the COVID-19 relief bill signed by Congress last twelvemonth gets you 1 more year to spend. This means you lot now have until December 31, 2022, to spend FSA coin earmarked for 2021.

The extension also practical for your 2022 FSA money, rolling over anything set aside that yr through December 31, 2021. We recommend checking your exact plan details to ensure you're making the almost of your money and how much you're able to rollover each year.

If you still have FSA dollars to spend, consider FSAstore.com. FSAstore.com has thousands of items that are guaranteed to be covered by your FSA. Beneath, we answer frequently asked questions about FSA dollars, and how you can avoid letting your money become to waste.

What is FSA?

Many employers offer access to Flexible Spending Accounts, which let you put abroad pre-tax dollars for eligible healthcare products and services (think everything from surgery and medical bills to thermometers and starting time-aid kits). Storing money in an FSA business relationship is a swell bargain, provided yous spend it earlier the annual deadline.

How does FSA work?

FSA operates on a utilize-it-or-lose-it provision; yous must spend the money in your FSA account by the end of the twelvemonth or adventure losing it for good. Typically, yous'd either have to spend it all past a deadline (either December 31 or March 15) or whorl a portion of it over.

The COVID relief pecker changes things, though.

At present, you accept another actress year to spend your FSA dollars, through the end of 2022. Put plainly: the FSA money y'all accrued in 2022 will still be bachelor to you until December 31, 2022; similarly, the money you accrued in 2022 is available to spend through Dec 31, 2021.

FSA Shop estimates that more $400 million is forfeited every year in FSA funds because employees either miss or forget their spending deadlines (based on estimates using data from the 2022 FSA and HSA Consumer Research conducted by VISA). It'southward your money and it'due south pre-revenue enhancement — it doesn't make sense non to use information technology.

What can you lot buy with your FSA money?

You can use FSA dollars to pay for medical expenses that aren't covered by a wellness plan, like co-pays, deductibles, dental and vision care, or dependent daycare, though eligible expenses can vary based on the plan. But if it'southward nearing the end of the year and you lot haven't used your coin to help encounter your deductible or pay medical expenses, you lot have the option of spending it on supplies similar over-the-counter medication.

The nitty-gritty details depend on the plan your employer has in identify, but you can skip the brunt of research past shopping the choice at the FSA store. They do the homework for y'all and curate more 4,000 products that are guaranteed to be covered. If they're somehow not, you get your money back.

The Elvie Pump is a easily-free, article of clothing electric breast pump without any cords, wires, or tubes. It reduces the time aspect of pumping significantly, since you can exist pumping while doing other tasks without worry.

Thinksport'due south SPF 50+ Sunscreen offers optimal but affordable protection without whatever potentially harmful chemicals.

First Aid Only's All-Purpose 200-slice Commencement Aid Kit is well-organized so you lot don't accept to shuffle around too much looking for any information technology is you need when you need it most, and it's packed to the skirt with high-quality medical essentials.

This wrist brace is adjustable so you can apply the right amount of pressure level to help alleviate some pain you may experience from repetitive wrist movements. Unlike other wrist braces you may find, this ane can be used for either hand. Downwardly to $15 from the FSAstore, this is a actually good price to pay for such a versatile item.

Though a $1 disbelieve may non seem like much, it's actually a 10% cost cut from the typical selling toll for a pack of these bandages from Welly. Not just are Welly Bravery Badges absorbent and flexible, they're as well designed with fun patterns and come up in a reusable metal tin.

Artistic ways to spend your FSA money before the borderline

Here are a few items on FSAstore.com that you lot tin can purchase with your pre-tax money earlier you lose information technology: thermometers, feminine care, sunscreen, vitamins, condoms, loftier-tech healthcare (at-dwelling house defibrillator, nausea relief bands, vibrating shoe insoles, ovulation predictors), and travel pillows with orthopedic neck back up. View all categories here.

And since the new Affordable Care Act required over-the-counter medications (like Advil and Benadryl) to come up with a prescription from a dr. for FSA reimbursement, FSAstore created a Prescription Procedure that contacts your doctor for you, so you lot can get the information you need to complete the buy.

Y'all tin can too buy products from Warby Parker or Felix Gray glasses with your FSA and HSA dollars equally long every bit your FSA or HSA card is affiliated with a major credit card — y'all're even able to book an at-abode Zeel massage with it.

Mara Leighton

Senior Didactics and Personal Development Reporter, Insider Reviews

Mara Leighton is the senior education and personal development reporter for Insider Reviews. In the bound of 2020, Mara spearheaded Insider Reviews' new education beat. She's reported on Yale'south most popular course on happiness as well equally essential workforce recovery programs, free instructional courses for non-ICU workers on operating mechanical ventilators, and a Johns Hopkins' contact tracing course designed to fill thousands of remote jobs. She's interviewed Google executives, presidential policy committee members, best-selling authors, leading researchers and professors, and NBC'southward Chuck Todd in her education coverage. She's most interested in personal development, skill-edifice, manufacture shifts, and increased accessibility for learners of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Previously, Mara covered e-commerce for Business organisation Insider from 2017-2020. She's written thousands of reviews and explainers, profiled emerging and established D2C companies, blogged through major retail events, and forecasted and analyzed industry trends. She also produced the vertical's weekly newsletter. Say hello at mleighton@businessinsider.com or tweet her @maraleighton. Acquire more most how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Acquire more than almost how we review educational and personal development products.

As a Deals Reporter for Insider's Reviews team, Sarah sifts through the depths of the internet to surface only the best of deals for our readers. Prior to joining Insider Inc., she was a Deals Writer at Wirecutter, a New York Times company. Subsequently graduating from California Land University, Fullerton with a degree in Marketing, Sarah started out every bit a Freelance Deals Writer at Wirecutter; here she focused on newsletter cosmos, social media promotion, and syndication in add-on to deals writing before stepping into a total-fourth dimension role. Her accomplishments from this position, in addition to the countless deals she'southward written, include implementing multiple social media marketing campaigns and launching a Deals Facebook grouping for the visitor. Say hi (or send a picture of your pet) to Sarah at ssaril@businessinsider.com, or reach her on Twitter at @LordPonty or on Instagram at @lord_ponty. Learn more than nigh how our squad of experts tests and reviews products at Insider hither. Learn more about how we research deals.