You can submit reimbursement requests for eligible expenses incurred during the previous plan year until your employer's claims submission deadline. Expenses submitted after the deadline aren't eligible for reimbursement.
Can I submit expenses from last year?
Yes.
If your employer's plan includes a runout period, you may submit eligible expenses incurred during the previous plan year after the year ends.
Expenses must be submitted before the plan's claims submission deadline.
What if my claim is larger than my remaining allowance?
If your eligible expense exceeds your remaining prior-year allowance, you'll be reimbursed only up to your available balance.
Current-year allowance can't be used to reimburse expenses incurred during a previous plan year.
What happens if I miss the submission deadline?
Expenses submitted after your employer's claims submission deadline aren't eligible for reimbursement, even if they were incurred while you were covered.
Submit reimbursement requests as soon as possible to avoid missing the deadline.
Example
An employee has $1,500 of unused allowance remaining from the previous plan year and submits a $3,000 eligible medical expense that occurred during that year before the claims submission deadline.
The employee is reimbursed $1,500, which is the remaining available allowance. The remaining $1,500 isn't eligible because the prior-year allowance has been exhausted.
When does this article not apply?
This article explains reimbursement requests for prior-year expenses.
It does not explain how unused allowance accumulates during the current plan year.
Key takeaway
Eligible expenses from the previous plan year must be submitted before your employer's claims submission deadline and can only be reimbursed from the remaining allowance available for that plan year.