To see the impact to your tax return for 2007, see this form on taxes and HSAs or the Payroll Shared Services Web site.
If your spouse is enrolled in CarePlus or CarePlusMAX, and meets all four HSA eligibility requirements, he or she is eligible to open an HSA in his or her name at any HSA trustee. Note that you and your spouse's combined HSA contributions, whether personal or through an employer, are subject to the combined household limit of $5,650 annually if you both participate in these plans. Your spouse may also be eligible to contribute the HSA individual catch-up provision of up to $800/year if reaching age 55 by the end of the year.
At this time, Fidelity does not support retail (non-employer) HSAs. They expect to begin offering the accounts later in 2007.
If you want to change your HSA deferral election because of the new HSA limits , or for any reason, you can call Deere Direct at 1-888-432-3373. Payroll will use the latest HSA election on file when processing your pay statement.
In order to use your Fidelity HSA debit card, you must have enough money in your core account to pay for the covered charge. Your core account means your HSA cash reserves account with Fidelity. If your account does not have enough funds to cover a charge, you will need to make other arrangements with your provider for payment.
You may reimburse yourself from your HSA after paying your provider with a personal check, cash, or any other means of payment. Call Fidelity at 1-800-354-3427 to issue a reimbursement from your HSA.
To see if a medical expense is considered to be a "qualified medical expense," refer to IRS Publication 502.
If your provider debits too much money from your HSA (charges too much at the time of the service), the HSA debit cards will accept credit (reversals) transactions. This is similar to when you return an item at a retail store and your credit card is credited.
When you use a credit for returning withdrawn funds, your tax records will be adjusted (as if you had not taken the excess money out).
To estimate the impact on your take home pay, first divide your annual HSA election by the number of pay periods you wish to have it deferred over. For example, a $1,600 annual HSA election over 4 pay periods means $400 will be deferred each pay period. The payroll system will defer $400/paycheck into your HSA until the $1,600 annual amount is deferred.
Since HSA deferrals are not subject to tax, your taxes withheld will be lower. For example, if you are subject to 15% federal, 2.35% state, and 7.65% FICA payroll taxes (totals 25%) your tax withholdings will be $100 lower ($400 X 25%). Stated another way - your take home pay would be $300 lower while you fund your HSA over each of the 4 pay periods in the amount of $400.
HSA per paycheck savings $400
- lower taxes at 25% -100
Your take home pay impact $300
Call Fidelity at 1-800-354-3427 and select "HSAs" from the listed options. A representative will verify if your card has been mailed, or if you need to complete an HSA debit card application.
There are two reasons you may have received more money in your paycheck:
1. You opened an HSA after 1 January
If you opened your HSA after the first of the month in which a company contribution was made, the contribution was given to you in your paycheck and taxes were withheld. Remember that you cannot use your HSA to reimburse yourself for expenses incurred before your HSA was opened.
2. You are not eligible for an HSA
If you are enrolled in either CarePlus or CarePlusMAX but are not eligible for an HSA, you received a comparable company contribution automatically through your paycheck rather than a company deposit into a Fidelity HSA. Under either CarePlus or CarePlusMAX, the company will contribute $700 annually for employee only coverage or $1,300 for family coverage. This is the same amount contributed by the company on behalf of HSA-eligible employees. The comparable company contributions will be made to your paycheck automatically during the first full pay period of January, February, May, and August. The company comparable contributions will be considered taxable income.
Your Health Savings Account through Fidelity Investments® allows you to pay for qualified medical expenses. Make sure you retain all of your receipts. To pay for qualified medical expenses, you can:
1. Use a Fidelity HSA Debit Card
Fidelity provides one debit card with each Health Savings Account. Since a Health Savings Account is an individual account, Fidelity issues one HSA debit card per account.* This debit card can be used for qualified medical expenses.
The debit card is similar to a credit card in that is does not have a PIN number, it is not usable to withdraw funds from an ATM, and it requires a signature to use. You can use the debit card to pay for medical expenses at the time of service or to pay a bill later received for qualified medical expenses.
*Fidelity is working to possibly provide more than one debit card in the future.
2. Use a Fidelity HSA Checkbook
You can request an HSA checkbook from Fidelity by calling 1-800-354-3427. You can use this checkbook to pay for qualified medical expenses while at your provider's office, or you can write yourself a check reimbursement after you have personally paid for the qualified medical expenses.
3. Have Fidelity Send You a Check
Once you know your personal cost for a qualified medical expense, call Fidelity at 1-800-354-3427 to issue a check to you. The funds will come from your Health Savings Account.
4. Do an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Through Fidelity
The EFT is an electronic transfer of funds from your HSA to your personal bank account (or vice versa). Fidelity does not charge a fee for this service.
To do an EFT, call Fidelity at 1-800-354-3427 to set establish the process. It will require a paper EFT application and a copy of a "voided" from your personal checking account. The time to set-up the process may take up to 10 business days. Once set-up, you can contact Fidelity at 1-800-354-3427 to initiate an EFT transfer. Note, you can not use your Fidelity Money Line to do an HSA EFT transfer.
It is appropriate that some health care providers may expect payment at the time of service. To be prepared for this, you can call the provider ahead of time. Explain that you have a high deductible health plan through UnitedHealthcare, and any other information they may request. Ask if the provider will expect payment at the time of service. This will allow you to decide your method of payment before reaching the provider's office, and will prepare you for future visits.
See a payment flow chart for when you visit a health care provider.
Find out the different ways you can pay for qualified medical expenses.
Myuhc.com offers tools and information for UHC members. A short, online registration will give you access to the tools. You will also be able to view your personal profile and other information such as:
Most providers will bill your insurance first, and then bill you for any portion of expenses not covered by the deductible. However, occasionally some providers will ask for payment up front, even if you have met your deductible.
You will need to discuss with your health care provider how they choose to bill/receive payment when you receive services.
If you have met your deductible and you pay your provider, UnitedHealthcare will reimburse you (as long as the provider indicates on the claim form that you have paid).
You can track your deductible and claims status by going to www.myuhc.com. UHC will process claims submitted against the plan provisions.
Instead of receiving a separate EOB statement for each claim, you will be mailed one statement each month that consolidates all processed claims for that period, as well as remaining balances for deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.
Your UHC monthly health statement is a recap of all services for each covered individual in your household. It itemizes all out-of-pocket expenses for the month and provides you with a year-to-date summary helping you see the complete picture of your health care spending.
You can use out-of-network providers, but there are things you need to consider.
Although UnitedHealthcare's Choice Plus network is broad, not all providers are included. To view which providers are in-network, go to www.myuhc.com.
If you use an out-of-network provider, you pay 100 percent of allowed medical services up to the deductible. The out-of-network deductible is higher than the in-network deductible. Once you reach the deductible, the plan pays for 50 percent for allowed out-of-network medical services. You pay the remaining 50 percent. And, there is no out-of-pocket maximum.
If you were a member of UHC of the River Valley (formerly John Deere Health), any claims with the date of service on or before 31 December 2006 are processed through the UHC of the River Valley location in Moline. You may visit www.UHCRiverValley.com to check the status of medical and dental claims. You may call UHC of the River Valley at 1-800-747-1446 with claim issues from 2006.
Any claims with the date of service on or after 01 January 2007 are processed through UnitedHealthcare at the location listed on your UHC member ID card (if it’s a medical claim) or the location listed on your UHC dental ID card (if it’s a dental claim). You may visit www.myuhc.com to check the status of medical and dental claims. You may call UHC at 1-888-JDEERE1 (1-888-533-3731) with claim issues from 2007.
UnitedHealthcare uses separate claims service centers for medical and dental. Your provider will need to submit medical claims to the address found on the back of your UHC medical ID card and dental claims to the address on your UHC dental ID card.
If you experience a qualifying family status change (for example, having a baby, getting married, getting a divorce, etc.), you can change your health care coverage election. In all cases, a change in your coverage category or medical option must be due to and consistent with your change in family status. The new HSA limit, communicated in January 2007, is not a qualifying family status change, and therefore you cannot change medical plan options due to this recent change. You may contact Deere Direct at 1-888-432-3373 on what is considered a qualifying family status change.
Therefore, your cost will not be applied toward your deductible. According to the IRS, these types of purchases are not considered qualified medical expenses, so HSA dollars cannot be used for them.
To use www.myuhc.com, you will need to register online. This takes only a few minutes. Once you register, your personal information will appear. It includes information available since you became a UHC member such as:
On www.myuhc.com, you can compare the cost of medications by starting at the home page and
You can enter the names of any prescriptions you would like to price, the dosage, and at which pharmacy you would like to check the pricing. This will give you a cost estimate between mail-order prescriptions and retail.
You can also use the Savings Advisor on www.myuhc.com to compare prescription costs.
The Savings Advisor Tool on www.myuhc.com allows you to view prescriptions similar to prescriptions you may already be taking. To access the Savings Advisor Tool on www.myuhc.com, start at the home page and
The tool provides information to understand alternative treatment options to discuss with your provider. What works best for you is between you and your physician and may vary on your situation.
Some national pharmacy chains have announced a special $4 per prescription generic pharmacy program. This is a way for you to save money on some of the most common generic prescriptions.
If you take advantage of this program, the pharmacy may choose not to file your claim with UnitedHealthcare. To view your claims, go to www.myuch.com.
If your prescription is not filed with UHC, you can submit the claim to UHC by filing the receipt and a claim form. The claim submission form can be found on www.myuhc.com. Once logged in to myuhc.com, hover over "Prescriptions" and select "Drug Pricing/Coverage." From there, select "Go to Pharmacy Online," and select "Forms and Cards" in the left side navigation panel. This is where the claim submission form can be found.
See a payment flow chart for when you visit a health care provider
Read about providers requiring up-front payment
The John Deere benefit plan limits prescriptions to either a 31-day or 90-day supply. A 150-day supply of a prescription is not covered. The reasons for this include the safety of the patient and cost considerations. For example:
You can seek dental services from any licensed dentist (DDS).
UHC's process for dental ID card printing does not include listing covered dependents. For verification of the patient's eligibility and coverage, your dentist will need to contact UnitedHealthcare at 1-800-996-7518.
If you have questions about:
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