On December 27, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This Act provides additional temporary relief to Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts and Dependent Daycare Flexible Spending Accounts.
The Department of Budget & Management is adopting some of the optional, temporary changes available under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Employees enrolled in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) may have already received an email notification directly from the FSA vendor, P&A Group.
In summary, the State of Maryland will:
1. Temporarily extend the Grace Period (time to incur expenses) for a Healthcare FSA until 12 months after the plan end date.
- The 2020 Plan year will allow the extension to occur from March 15, 2021 to December 31, 2021.
- The 2021 Plan year will allow the extension to occur from March 15, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
- The 2020 Plan year will allow the extension to occur from March 15, 2021 to December 31, 2021.
- The 2021 Plan year will allow the extension to occur from March 15, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
3. Temporarily extend the Runout Period (time to file for reimbursement) for both the 2020 and 2021 plan years.
- 2020 is temporarily extended from April 15, 2021 to April 15, 2022
- 2021 is temporarily extended from April 15, 2022 to April 15, 2023