Leaving: Reimbursement Accounts
From HPAlumnipedia
...Medical, Dependents (what else?)
From the HPAlumnipedia (www.hpalumnipedia.com) on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 17:22 • Page last modified: 8/18/2007
HPAlumnipedia > Leaving HP > Leaving: Reimbursement Accounts
Steve Bunten, Jul 2003:
...what to do with any monies withheld in one's medical reimbursement account. As I found out too late when I was laid off back in 2001, whatever the employee commits to for the year is available to be spent anytime during that year, but only while still an employee. Since I left the company at the end of March, I had only contributed for the first three months. But I could only claim valid expenses which I incurred during those three months, even if it was the entire year's worth of money I planned to put into the account.
As an example, had I known about this, I could have hurriedly scheduled to have LASIK done on my eyes (something I did do a year later), and essentially had HP pick up almost the entire tab!
Of course, asking the benefits people in our meeting, none of them had a clue. And I even specifically asked what happens with the money in that account. Don't know if the info has improved in 2-1/2 yrs since I left, but I'd not be surprised if it hadn't.
The next day someone else followed up with this:
Actually there is another option -- I was let go in the August 2001 purge and found out about this reimbursement issue after my termination date when I was setting up my COBRA coverage -- it was a big issue for me as I was contributing heavily and had spent little to date, anticipating a knee surgery which didn't happen. But I was given another option -- I could continue to make payments into the account myself, thereby keeping it active. That's what I did, and I managed to spend it all.
Of course I was two-thirds of the way through the year and had used little of the funds to date so it was worth it to me. Your mileage may vary.
Ken Brown, May 2005:
...confirmed that the reimbursement accounts still work as described above. Apparently you can spend (for allowed expenses occurred while still an employee) and be reimbursed, up to the limit of your planned annual contribution, in excess the amount you actually have withheld by termination.
