Most workers Make Full Use of Their FSAs

A new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute reveals that employees boosted their participation in flexible spending accounts in 2020 over the previous year. Eighty-nine percent took distributions from their health care flexible savings accounts in 2020, and their distributions tracked closely to their contributions. Here are the survey highlights:

• Average Contribution: Workers who had a limited-purpose FSA had an average contribution of $859 compared to $1,259 for those with a standard health care FSA. FSA contributions and balances did not vary significantly based on whether the account holder had a use-it-or-lose-it FSA, an FSA with a grace period, or an FSA with a rollover feature. 
• Account holder age: Older account holders contributed more, were more likely to take distributions, and were more likely to take larger distributions