NEW YORK (PRWEB) November 04, 2021

New survey data from Health-E Commerce shows that consumers are confused about temporary flexible spending account (FSA) deadline changes, and as a result, more than 30 million people who are enrolled in these accounts are at risk of forfeiting more unused funds to a missed deadline than ever before. To help consumers use, not lose, tax-free healthcare dollars, Health-E Commerce, parent brand of industry-leading online marketplace FSAstore.com, has launched a new Deadline Alerts feature that will automatically remind consumers of upcoming deadlines and send them valuable coupons for eligible healthcare items.

FSAstore.com, a leading online marketplace for FSA users, delivers a 100%-guaranteed eligible shopping experience that eliminates the guesswork from spending FSA funds. By signing up for deadline alerts, account holders will be notified of special promotions and new arrivals and receive a series of deadline alerts delivered via email that will countdown to their individual deadline.

FSAstore.com also features a comprehensive list of all FSA-eligible products and services, an extensive library of helpful articles and blogs about how FSAs work and the many ways to spend down funds, as well as account planning and management tools and calculators. And, to make open enrollment easier for employees and employers, Health-E Commerce also created an interactive Open Enrollment Guide to help employees determine which account type is best for them and how much to contribute.

“Consumers come to FSAstore.com for convenience, guaranteed eligibility, support, and expertise so they don’t have to worry about losing valuable healthcare dollars,” said Rida Wong, president of Health-E Commerce. “Account holders are more confused about deadlines and rollover this year than in recent years, and that means FSA holders are at risk of forfeiting even more than the average $500 million in FSA funds due to a missed deadline.”

According to Wong, Health-E Commerce surveyed more than 3,600 shoppers to FSAstore.com in September and October, and found that consumers are unaware of, or not confident in, understanding their deadlines this year. More specifically:

• 50% are not confident that they understand the deadline changes.
• 76% haven’t been notified of their deadline or they don’t recall being notified, if they were. This number increased from 64% in early September, indicating a growing confusion among account holders.
• 37% have higher balances this year than they did last year, which could mean more forfeited funds than ever before if consumers aren’t educated properly.

Increased deadline confusion is being fueled by temporary changes enacted in 2020 by Congress that affected FSA deadlines and carry over rules. As a result of COVID-19, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 gave employers the choice to change or temporarily extend the FSA spending deadline. Employers were also given the option to allow employees to carry over their entire unused account balance to the upcoming plan year. Because FSAs are an employer-sponsored account, each company can have different deadlines and set rules that meet their needs.

“While deadline extensions gave consumers and account holders more flexibility and more time to spend down account funds, which was important when COVID-19 made in-person healthcare more difficult, account holders are largely unaware of whether their deadline has changed and what funds may still be available to them,” said Wong. “This, coupled with higher account balances than last year due to expanded rollover options, will make easy access to a wide variety of meaningful ways to spend FSA funds more important than ever.”

To learn more or to view additional employee tools and educational content, visit FSA Store or Health-E Commerce.

About Health-E Commerce

Health-E Commerce is the parent company of FSA Store, HSAstore, and WellDeserved, a family of brands that serve the 70+ million consumers with pre-tax health and wellness accounts. The company has also created Caring Mill, a popular private-label line of health products that benefits Children’s Health Fund and enables customers to make a donation with each purchase. Since 2010, the company’s brands have led the direct-to-consumer e-commerce market for pre-tax health and wellness benefits. Health-E Commerce plays an essential role in expanding product eligibility for important new categories within the IRS-approved list of eligible medical expenses like over-the-counter medications, feminine care products, sunscreen, and breast pumps.

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