Health Spending Account

An HSA adds significant value to your benefits plan. The primary benefit is that it provides for payment of eligible health-related expenses with pre-tax dollars. Depending on the tax bracket you are in, you can realize considerable savings by paying for health expenses through your HSA by using pre-tax dollars.

Your HSA provides greater flexibility to help you manage your health related expenses. You can use your HSA to pay for a broader range of medical and dental expenses than those covered under the core Extended Health Care and Dental plan such as your share of medical and dental premiums, co-insurance amounts and deductibles.

In addition, you can claim expenses for any dependent that is considered your dependent for income tax purposes in that year.

Any expense deemed an eligible medical expense by the Canada Revenue Agency is allowed. Review the list of eligible medical expenses.

This list can change over time and you should contact Alberta Blue Cross if you have questions about the eligibility of a specific expense prior to making the purchase.

You cannot claim over-the-counter medications, vitamins, or supplements, even if prescribed by a medical practitioner. If you are unsure about a particular expense, contact Alberta Blue Cross.

Any expenses not recognized as an eligible medical expense deduction under the Income Tax Act are not accepted. Some examples are drugs purchased without a prescription from a doctor or dentist, fitness club memberships, golf memberships, and daycare.

You may cover expenses for yourself, your spouse, your children and any other dependents. A dependent is considered any person for whom you may claim medical tax credits under the Income Tax Act in that year. If you can claim for a dependent under taxation guidelines, then that dependent is eligible under your HSA.

If you terminate your employment or transfer to a position at the University of Calgary that does not have an HSA, you lose your credits upon termination or transfer.

All claims with a date of service prior to the date of termination or transfer can be submitted for payment within the next 30 days. After 30 days, claims will not be processed.

If you transfer to another employment group that does have a Flexible Spending Account, your credits may be replaced with a pro-rated annual amount, depending on the type of transfer. Contact benefits@ucalgary.ca if you have specific questions based on your situation.

During your leave you may access your existing credits and make claims; however, you will not receive additional credits until you return to work. Credits will then be pro-rated depending on the date you return to work.

For Management and Professional Staff, you will make your allocations once every two years during the Flex Re-enrolment process. You will receive instructions for this in November for an effective date of January 1 of every odd year.

Contributions will be made to your account on an annual basis. The total amount of your annual credit is deposited in advance at the beginning of the year. The benefit year is January 1 to December 31.

You can carry your unused credits forward for one year after the year in which they were allocated. After that point, credits are then forfeited.

No. Spending Accounts are governed, in part, by Canada Revenue Agency regulations. In order to comply with those regulations, the university is not permitted to make changes to credits that have defaulted or to accept any changes to allocations.

No. Canada Revenue Agency requires that you make an irrevocable election to your HSA on an annual basis, which can be neither increased nor decreased.

For Management and Professional Staff, you will receive credits annually but you are only allowed to allocate between the Health and Wellness Spending Accounts once every two years during the re-enrolment period.

When you or your provider submits a core Health or Dental claim to Alberta Blue Cross, any unpaid balance automatically flows to your Health Spending Account unless your benefits are coordinated with your spouse's plan and you have stopped the ‘auto-flow’ with Alberta Blue Cross. If you have coverage under more than one benefit plan, the unpaid portion of your claim must first be submitted to the other plan prior to being reimbursed through your HSA.

If you do not wish to have your expenses automatically flow through your HSA, contact Alberta Blue Cross.

HSA claims that do not automatically flow through from a core claim can either be submitted online through the Alberta Blue Cross secure plan member website or via the paper HSA claim form. If you choose to set up a secured Alberta Blue Cross online account, you can submit claims, track the status of claims, and set up direct deposit for payments. Original receipts must be kept for a period of 12 months as Alberta Blue Cross may audit online claims.

If you submit a paper claim form, you must attach original receipts and any Explanation of Benefit statements that indicate payment from another insurance company. Claims may be dropped off at any of the Alberta Blue Cross offices throughout the province, or mailed to the address on the claim form. 

Health Spending Account claims are processed daily. If there is claim activity on your account, you will receive reimbursement direct deposit to your bank account within a few days. If you prefer to have the claims issued as a paper cheque, they are created twice a month and sent to your home address on file. You may select your preferred method of receiving payments by contacting Alberta Blue Cross.

The HSA is designed to complement the Health and Dental options, and therefore requires that you access all other benefit plans before submitting expenses to them for payment. Once your claims have been processed by both your own and your spouse's plans, you can then submit a claim to your HSA by attaching an Explanation of Benefits statement from the other insurance company and attaching it to your HSA claim form. This process prevents you from using HSA dollars unnecessarily for items that are covered under core benefit plans.

Credits are granted on a “use it or lose it” basis. If your employment status changes, unspent credits may be lost. If you experience a qualified life event your credits may be adjusted and any unspent credits will be forfeited and replaced with a new pro-rated amount based on your new status.

You are required to submit your receipts dated up to the end of the plan year (i.e. December 31st) for any expenses within 3 months of the end of the benefit year (i.e. by March 31st). We strongly recommend sending in receipts immediately after you incur the expense.

Important Considerations:

• You can only carry over credits for one year, after that the unused credits are forfeited.
• We recommend that you submit claims immediately to avoid forfeiture of credits.
• You can only claim for expenses in the benefit year that they are incurred.
• Expenses cannot be carried forward and claimed in the following benefit year.

No, only claims incurred after your Health Sending Account effective date may be submitted for reimbursement.

No. The Canada Revenue Agency stipulates that you must be the recipient of reimbursement from your HSA, not the provider of the service.

Photocopies of receipts are acceptable only if the original receipts have been processed by Alberta Blue Cross for a core benefit plan claim or if they are accompanied by an Explanation of Benefits from another carrier. If the original receipt was sent in for payment through the core benefit plan, Alberta Blue Cross will facilitate payment through your HSA automatically as they have the original receipt on file.

If you have coverage through another benefit carrier, then the original receipts have likely been sent in and kept by that carrier. Alberta Blue Cross then requires the Explanation of Benefits statement that you received showing payment from the other carrier.

Your HSA requires that all core benefit plans be accessed prior to forwarding them to your HSA. Through this highly automated process, an Explanation of Benefits statement is produced. This ensures that all efforts have been taken to pay the expense through your core plan and lets you know that claims have been received and are now being forwarded to your HSA for processing. It is important that you are aware of the status of your claim and what claims have been forwarded to your account.

Health Spending Account payments are processed daily. To receive a payment, you must have credits available in your account and the expense submitted must be eligible for payment through the HSA. Payments are made by cheque or by direct bank deposit, depending on your preferred method. You may view claim statements online on your Alberta Blue Cross secure member account.

Claims for out-of-province medical expenses should be submitted first to your provincial healthcare plan, then to any core Health benefit plan under which you are covered, and finally to your HSA. As this process may take several months, you should remember HSA deadlines and forfeiture rules.

For the convenience of not having to resubmit a claim form, your account has been set up to automatically pay you. You may elect to have your account administered on a manual basis. Contact Alberta Blue Cross directly to arrange for this. In future, you will then receive a statement outlining expenses, which you are eligible to have reimbursed; but you must return this statement with a claim form to request payment from your account for specific services.

You can also submit your Explanation of Benefits with a claim form to request payment.

If you have recently submitted a claim, a monthly statement will provide you with the account balance. You can also view your balance online at the Alberta Blue Cross Secure Online Services or call Alberta Blue Cross Customer Service at any time to check the balance of your account. Call 403-234-9666 from Calgary and area, or 1-800-661-6995 toll-free from anywhere in Alberta.