INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, October 31 — Time is running out for BLET members who want to sign up for the Health Flexible Spending Account Plan (Health FSA). Open enrollment for the 2017 Plan Year ends at midnight tonight — Monday, October 31, 2016.
It is important to note that Health FSA enrollment is not automatic — even if you enrolled in the current plan year, you must re-enroll by October 31 to participate in the 2017 Plan Year.
Your participation is important as continuation of the plan is dependent on enrollment levels. At least 7.5% of eligible engineers must participate in the FSA Plan in the 2017 Plan Year, and subsequent Plan Years, or the Carriers will have the right to terminate the plan.
The FSA Plan is available to BLET-represented engineers working on participating railroads, and all train service employees of the Texas Mexican Railway. This important health care benefit was secured by the BLET in the 2012 National Agreement. Also, BLET members subject to the September 16, 2011 UTU National Agreement are currently eligible to participate in the Health FSA program provided for in that Agreement.
The FSA Plan, administered by United Healthcare, is designed to allow you to use pretax dollars to pay for certain medical expenses that are not covered under any health plan (including a railroad health & welfare plan) or any other source. You can then use your FSA account to cover eligible expenses, which means you””ll be using pretax dollars to pay for those expenses. The key to the plan is that it allows you to save hundreds of dollars in taxes each year. The amount you could save in taxes depends on how much you set aside and the amount of your expenses.
To Register
Information to sign up for the FSA is contained in open enrollment packets that were mailed during the week of September 19, 2016. This year, open enrollment is again being done online. To do so, you must log in to the Your Track to Health website:
https://www.yourtracktohealth.com/
Once logged in, look to the upper-left corner of the screen and select the option to “ENROLL NOW FOR 2017.” New users may have to complete a brief registration process. Anyone with questions should call the FSA Customer Care Center at 1-888-298-9754 if you have any questions.
For additional information, please see BLET News Flash dated September 16, 2016:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=5884
Again, open enrollment began on October 1, 2016, and ends at midnight on Monday, October 31, 2016.