Health Care Spending Account (HCSA)

CAEAS-ECAB

Health Care Spending Account

The HCSA is simply extra tax-free money you can use toward health and dental expenses that aren’t covered (or aren’t fully covered) under your benefits plan. As a plan member, you receive the annual contribution to your HCSA for the benefit year.

If you do not use your HCSA deposit by the end of the benefit plan year, you can carry the balance over for use in the following benefit year. However, if you still do not use that HCSA allocation by the end of the second benefit plan year (August 31^st), any unused amounts will be forfeited. So be sure to use your HCSA balances before the deadline each year!

Here’s how they carry forward works for these annual deposits:

You can spend your HCSA funds on any eligible expense under the Income Tax Act (ITA), giving you some flexibility in how you spend your benefits dollars. Here are a few examples of eligible expenses you can claim through your HCSA:

Paramedical claims beyond the Plan’s annual maximums
Co-pay/out-of-pocket expenses for all benefits
Vision care and medical services and supplies claims beyond the Plan’s maximums
Weight-loss programs prescribed by a physician as a treatment for a specific diagnosed disease (such as obesity, hypertension or heart disease)
Many other health-related expenses for you and your eligible dependents!

How to submit a claim to your HCSA

Watch this video first…

Next, choose the video that best represents the claim you’d like to submit

Scenario 1
The One-Claim Approach

Scenario 2
The HCSA-Only Approach

Scenario 3
The Special Expenses Approach

Tip!

You can quickly access your HCSA balance from the Canada Life app or GroupNet. Track your remaining credits and be sure to use your funds before the August 31 deadline.

You will have 3 months from the deadline to submit eligible claims.

Tip!

You can claim your health and dental benefits cost share through your HCSA. You’ll need your Plan Contribution Statement from the Cowan website. Find out how to access it.

For a detailed list about what expenses can be claimed through your HCSA, please visit the Canada Revenue Agency website.

For questions about whether a specific expense is eligible under your HCSA, contact Canada Life.

What is an HCSA? Watch this video
to find out.

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