News Briefs

USA Today - By Sandra Block
December 1, 2009 - If the guy in front of you at the drugstore is buying a case of ibuprofen, it's probably not because he's suffering from the mother of all hangovers. More likely, he's racing to use what's left in his health care flexible savings account before year's end. Read the complete article here.

FOXNews.com - By Judson Berger
November 25, 2009 - Families with special-needs children and people with chronic illnesses stand to lose hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in tax benefits under proposed health care reform legislation, critics say, warning that a plan to cap the amount of money people can put into special "flexible spending" health accounts will have "cruel" and "unintended consequences." Read the complete article here.

WSJ.com - By Anna Wilde Matthews
November 11, 2009 - With just a few weeks left in 2009, consumers should check that they aren't leaving any health-insurance money on the table. Read the complete article here.

ABC News/Associated Press - By Erica Werner WASHINGTON
November 1, 2009 — Those tax-free spending accounts that you and your co-workers use to help pay for dental work, insurance copayments or over-the-counter drugs face a hit under the health overhaul bills in Congress — unless a coalition that includes a powerful union, insurers and others can stop it. Read the complete article here.

By John K. Doheny
New Haven Register
October 27, 2009 - Claire is a Connecticut resident with an insurance plan provided by her employer ... This year, her husband was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. They face thousands of dollars of medical expenses not covered by their insurance plan. Fortunately, her employer offers a flexible spending account that enables her to set aside up to $5,000 before taxes from her take-home pay for her family’s health care costs. Read the complete article here.

By Joe Jackson
San Jose Mercury News
October 18, 2009 - In his recent address to Congress, President Barack Obama emphasized three key principles behind his health care reform plan. He said it will "build on what works and fix what doesn't," that "nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have" and that "the middle class will realize greater security, not higher taxes." Read the complete article here.

iReport.com - By Jean Walker
October 19, 2009 - In search of new tax revenue for health care reform, Congress proposes strict limits on a mostly middle-class employee benefit -- the Flexible Spending Account. View the video here.

By Jody Dietel, Special to Roll Call
As Congress considers how to pay the hefty price tag for health care reform, one option under consideration is changing the structure of flexible spending accounts — a tool used by millions of hardworking Americans to manage and pay for health care costs not covered by insurance on a tax-advantaged basis. Limiting the amount of money that can be contributed into FSAs, as some in Congress have suggested, will reduce the value of the benefit and force plan participants to pay higher taxes and health care costs at a time when many can least afford it — an outcome inconsistent with the principles of health care reform.

Read the complete article here.

By: Jay Heflin
Backers of flexible medical spending accounts are planning a major push beginning next week to convince lawmakers and staffers that they should not place new limits on the accounts to help pay for the cost of health care overhaul legislation.

While reform negotiations are not taking place on Capitol Hill during the August break, representatives from the nonprofit Employers Council on Flexible Compensation will hold meetings next week with staffers to counter efforts backed by some Senate Finance Committee members to limit FSAs.

“We hear [FSAs] are viewed as an important pay-for, and we think that is contrary to important health policy,” said council spokeswoman Jody Dietel, who is also chief compliance officer for FSAs at WageWorks, a benefits company that oversees 1.5 million accounts. FSAs “drive down health care costs and are already working to achieve the objectives that are being touted as the goal of the whole process.”

FSAs are tax-advantaged savings accounts that workers use to pay for qualified health expenses. Deposits are not subject to payroll taxes, making them a cost-effective way to pay for out-of-pocket costs associated with traditional health plans. Currently, there is no limit on these deposits, but Dietel contends Finance members want to cap them at $2,000 or $3,000 to raise $18 billion over 10 years.

According to Dietel, the average FSA holder earns $55,000 annually, and capping tax-free deposits at $2,000 would negatively affect one in five account holders. But, she said, capping the deposits at $5,000 would leave most accounts unaffected and would be a compromise Dietel's group could support.

“We believe that if there’s going to be a limit, less than $5,000 is unsatisfactory,” Dietel said. “We get that everyone has to kick in a little ... and we’re absolutely committed to health care reform.”

A Finance spokesman would not comment on whether FSAs will be used to help fund the health care reform package being created by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Finance members Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). “Committee members are still discussing a wide range of provisions and have not finalized or agreed to any policies,” the spokesman said.

The Finance members are expected to introduce their plan in September.

In the House, health care reform legislation that emerged from the Ways and Means Committee last month bans FSAs from being used to pay for over-the-counter medicines. The measure takes effect after Dec. 31 and would raise $8.2 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Taxation Committee.

“That just doesn’t make any sense from the health care policy standpoint because it will drive up the cost of health care coverage,” Dietel said. “People are not using this as some wild tax shelter. They are using it for their day-to-day out-of-pocket expenses, and they are using their money wisely.”

To generate grass-roots opposition to capping FSA accounts, Dietel’s group created the Web site Save Flexible Spending Plans, www.savemyflexplan.org.

Tax lobbyists said amending FSAs has been discussed by Finance negotiators but the proposal is not a top priority.

While cautioning that nothing has been agreed to, the lobbyists expect Finance to pay for a chunk of the health overhaul by creating a 35 percent tax on insurers offering high-end health insurance plans. In most areas of the country, premiums above $21,000 for families or $8,000 for singles would be taxed, and in more expensive regions such as New York, the tax would apply to premiums above $24,000 for families and $10,000 for singles.

The measure is expected to raise $180 billion over 10 years. Baucus’ group may also increase Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements for corporations, which could raise as much as $20 billion over 10 years. The cost of the health overhaul legislation could be close to $1 trillion over 10 years.

San Mateo, Ca (June 22, 2009) — WageWorks, the nation’s leading provider of consumer-directed health care, wellness, commuter, and employer-sponsored benefits for FORTUNE 1,000 companies, announced today that its Compliance Officer Jody Dietel has been named president and chair of the Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards (SIGIS).

SIGIS is the industry group responsible for the establishment and maintenance of an industry standard for operating an inventory information approval system (IIAS) solution, which is required by the IRS for flexible spending account (FSA) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) cards to continue to be used at non-health care merchants. The group’s members include more than 5,000 retailers, acquirer processors, payment card networks, issuer processors, and third-party administrators.

“Jody has played a significant part in the tremendous accomplishments SIGIS has achieved to date, and brings great perspective to her new position as president and chair for the organization,” said Stacy Pourfallah, SIGIS secretary. “Her expertise, effectiveness and enthusiasm will be key to this frontline role, helping to expand usability of employee benefits card programs across the United States.”

As president and chair, Jody will leverage her expertise and experience while working with the board of directors to guide the group’s ongoing efforts in managing the SIGIS standard approach to IRS requirements, for the use of health care payment cards. Prior to being named president, Jody served as SIGIS’ vice president. In her new role, Jody will continue to chair the SIGIS List Review Working Group, which is responsible for determining which items and services are and are not eligible for purchase using a health care debit card under the IRS rules. Jody also sits on the board of directors for the Employers’ Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC), a non-profit organization dedicated to the maintenance and expansion of private employer benefit programs on a tax-advantaged basis.

“My interest is really for the millions of Americans who use these accounts. I got into this business because I really believe in these benefits, but if they’re going to work as intended, we need to have a broadly deployed approach; this is where SIGIS comes in,” commented Dietel, compliance officer at WageWorks and newly appointed SIGIS president.

With health care reform at the top of the government’s agenda, Jody hopes to use her industry cachet and influence at WageWorks to help shape the debate in Washington D.C., to ensure concerns of Americans—especially those with FSAs or HRAs—and their employers, are heard.

Dietel continued, “Several of the options proposed by the Senate Finance Committee for funding Health Care Reform would remove much of the behavioral changes that have occurred as a result of account-based plans. Eliminating or limiting account-based plans is really counter to the goal of health care reform, which is to lower costs and make coverage more universally affordable.”

SIGIS was formed shortly after the release of IRS regulation and guidance governing the use of health care payment cards for employer-sponsored tax-based accounts such as FSAs and HRAs. Because of the group’s work, a broad range of companies and consumers enjoy the convenience and security that comes with having consistent systems in place for transaction processing and data retention.

About WageWorks
Founded in 2000, WageWorks provides tax-advantaged health, wellness, child care, commuting, and education benefits. More than 100 of America's FORTUNE 500 employers and millions of their benefits-eligible employees use WageWorks' programs. As the cost of living continues to rise and more health care costs are pushed to employees, WageWorks seeks to eliminate barriers to benefit participation so working families can save money and improve their overall well-being.

WageWorks provides easy-to-use benefits programs that help save time, and educational tools and resources to increase employees' knowledge and understanding of their family's health care and financial needs.

WageWorks is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., with offices in New York, Tempe, Ariz., Mequon, Wis., Kansas City, Kas., Lombard, Ill., Troy, Mich., and Vista, Calif. For more information, please visit www.wageworks.com

Read the article here: FSAs Could End Up On Chopping Block In Hunt For Health Overhaul Money

Read the article here: What Happens to Your FSA If You're Laid Off

January 8, 2009: Joe Jackson, WageWorks CEO, announced Jody Dietel as WageWork's Compliance Officer. Jody will continue in her important role as the President of WageWorks, formerly Creative Benefits. Jody's new title will be President of Creative Benefits and WageWork's Compliance Officer. Jody will continue to report directly to the CEO.

Jody brings a great deal of industry and compliance expertise to WageWorks. She currently serves as Secretary on the SIGIS Board of Directors, as well as serving on the Board of Directors for the Employers Council of Flexible Compensation, where she is currently responsible for conferences, heavily involved in certification and serves on the Technical Advisory Committee. A frequent speaker at industry functions, she is also the only non-attorney who speaks at conferences for the Employee Benefits Institute of America.

Prior to joining WageWorks, Jody provided leadership for Creative Benefits, Inc., a very successful Consumer Driven Healthcare (CDH) Benefits Administrator. She also provided industry direction and is a recognized expert in a variety of health and welfare areas.

In her new role, Jody will assume the responsibility for compliance activities related to all WageWorks services, as well as continuing her industry roles with SIGIS and ECFC.

Jody holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Bethel University in St. Paul, MN and is certified as a Flexible Compensation Instructor through the ECFC. Jody lives in San Diego, CA and is an avid reader, pursuer of the Arts, and loves to travel. Please join us in congratulating Jody and wishing her success in her updated role.