Enrollments to Restart in Federal FSAFEDS Program
Following a two-month hold, federal employees will soon be allowed to once again enroll in the federal government’s Flexible Spending Account program, FSAFEDS.
The program allows federal employees to set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for medical expenses and dependent care expenses.
Starting August 1, 2024, enrollments will open again for new plan participants, whether they are new federal employees or employees enrolling due to a Qualifying Life Event such as getting married or having a baby.
Enrollments were suspended in late May out of an abundance of caution following a surge in fraudulent activity involving FSAFEDS. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a special fraud alert at that time. It noted that some employees saw unauthorized enrollments that led to unauthorized deductions in employees’ pay.
While there’s no evidence that systems were compromised, enrollments were paused out of an abundance of caution. Claim reimbursements were paused from June 16 to June 26 but were otherwise paid.
Security Changes
Once enrollments reopen, OPM will require identify verification for new FSAFEDS accounts, which will be completed through Login.gov.
“Enhanced identity verification is one of several steps we’ve taken to combat fraud in the FSAFEDS program,” OPM wrote in an email to agencies.
Those already enrolled in the program will be phased in through Login.gov.
Employees who created FSAFEDS accounts on or after January 1, 2023, will be required to complete identity verification through Login.gov starting in October 2024.
Employees who created FSAFEDS accounts before January 1, 2023, will be required to complete identity verification starting in January 2025.
The FSAFEDS website itself will also migrate from a “.com” to a “.gov” domain, with the new website “FSAFEDS.gov.”
OPM says it will “continue to communicate in the coming days and weeks with any new updates.”
The personnel agency is also working with program administrator HealthEquity on security improvements.
