Eligibility and Enrolling

You are eligible to participate in the FSAs if:

you are employed by an MPTN division that participates in the applicable plan.
you are a regular full-time team member actively at work.
you are a regular part-time team member actively at work.
you have been employed continuously for 60 days.

If your regularly scheduled work week or your average hours worked per week changes, your eligibility to participate in MPTN benefits may change.

The plan does not include coverage for temporary or seasonal team members, nor does it cover team members who work less than the required minimum hours per week.

If you are not eligible for benefits but later change to an eligible status — for example, if you change from a seasonal to a full-time team member — you must be employed continuously for 60 days in the new status before you become eligible for benefits. If you enroll for benefits, in most cases coverage begins on the first of the month following the day you complete 60 days of service in the new status.

Examples of Qualified Change in Status

a change in your legal marital status, such as your marriage, divorce, or legal separation.

a change in the number of your eligible dependents, including:

the birth or adoption of a child, or

the death of your spouse or child.

a change in your spouse’s employment status (such as starting a new job, terminating employment, etc.).

a change in eligibility for coverage (for example, a dependent child reaches the age 13 eligibility limit for dependent care expenses.

your eligible dependent’s loss of coverage from another source.

Enrolling

Each year you must formally enroll to participate in the MPTN FSAs. Even if you are enrolled one year, you must re-enroll to continue your participation the next year.

When First Eligible

If you want to enroll in an FSA, you will need to complete the enrollment form, and return it to Human Resources before your 90th day of employment. (Generally, you become eligible after you have been employed by MPTN for 60 days.) If you are absent from work due to illness or injury on the date your participation would normally begin, your participation will begin on the date you return to active employment.

In most cases, if you do not meet this 60-day deadline, you will not have an opportunity to enroll to participate in an FSA until the next annual enrollment period, unless:

you have a qualified change in status, as explained in “After Qualified Changes in Status” below, or
you decline participation because you have other employer-provided FSA coverage and you lose that other coverage.

During Annual Enrollment

Each year, MPTN holds an annual enrollment period. During this period, you have the opportunity to make FSA elections for the coming year.

After Qualified Changes in Status

The FSA enrollment choices you make when you first become eligible or during annual enrollment are usually in effect for the entire year for which you enroll.

However, because your need for benefits typically changes when you experience certain family events — such as getting married or having a baby — the FSAs, in keeping with federal rules, allow you to make changes in some situations, as long as you make your change within 30 days after the event.

Qualified Changes in Status

Various events may qualify you to enroll in or make certain changes to your FSA participation. Generally, the events must affect:

your family member’s eligibility to participate in an FSA under an employer plan (including plans of other employers),
expense eligibility for you or your eligible family members, or
the cost of dependent care.

Tax Savings

Your FSA contributions are automatically deducted from your pay and redirected into your account in equal amounts through the year.

Contributions are deducted before federal, Social Security and, in most locations, state and local income taxes are withheld. In addition, your contributions are not reported as income on your federal Form W-2 statement at the end of the year. As a result, an FSA enables you to lower your taxable income and pay less in taxes.

How to Make Changes

You have 30 days from the date of a qualified change in status to change your FSA participation. Provided you meet this 30-day deadline, the change in participation will generally be effective on the first of the month following thirty days from the qualified event. For example, if you get married on February 4 and you submit a change to increase your contributions to your health care FSA within 30 days of your marriage, your increased contributions will begin on the first day of April.

To make a change, you must notify Human Resources.

Keep in mind that any changes you make must be consistent with the change in your status.

After Losing Other Coverage

Some eligible team members may choose not to enroll in an MPTN FSA because they have FSAs available from another source, such as from a spouse’s employer’s plan.

If you limit your participation in either of the MPTN FSAs because your expenses are covered under another employer’s FSA, and if that other FSA participation ends, you may change your MPTN FSA elections at any time during the 30-day period after your other FSA participation ends. If you do, your new MPTN FSA elections take effect on the first of the month following the 30-day period.

If you do not enroll within this 30-day period, you must wait until the next annual enrollment to participate in an MPTN FSA.