So for tw0 years I kept a Flex Spending account in case something happened and I needed enough money for the hospital/doctor etc. Well, with my not doing reenactment I have managed to spend my first year in ages undamaged really, and only had to get a checkup. So there was a significant amount of money left over.

From http://www.shps.com/myshps/fsa/faqs.stm:

Q: What if I have money left in my account at the end of the year?
A: Under current IRS regulations, you forfeit that money. This is known as the “Use-It-Or-Lose-It” rule. It’s important to consider all your potential expenses when deciding how much to contribute to your FSA. The FSA Calculator can help you plan your annual contribution.

NOTE: The IRS allows employers to add an extension that might enable you to incur expenses for 2 1/2 months beyond the current plan year to help use any remaining FSA funds. Check with your employer to see if this extension is available to you.

What this doesn’t say forthright is that you still dont even get access to the remaining funds (in my case $773.10), you have 2 and 1/2 months to find an eligible arena to spend the money, and SHPS will reimburse you at a later date – again only if it eligible, meaning they have to approve the transaction, meaning you have to spend the money, and see if they will reimburse you again.

Bottom line, I am not even remote interested in being ripped off by this again. There is ZERO reason this program shouldn’t attempt to reimburse unspent money.