Reimbursement for Qualified Dependent Daycare Expenses

A Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account uses your pre-tax contributions to cover dependent day care (usually child care) expenses. Eligible dependents include children under 13 years of age, and a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself/herself.

• How it works
• Eligible expenses
• Ineligible expenses
• Ineligible reciepts

How it works

• During enrollment, estimate your annual out-of-pocket dependent day care expenses. This is your annual contribution to your Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account. The IRS allows a maximum of $5,000 for your annual contribution, but your employer may set a lower limit.
• Divide your annual contribution by the number of paychecks you receive annually. This is how much money will be deducted from each paycheck and placed in your Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account. Remember, you're saving money because no taxes are taken out of your contributions.
• Pay your dependent day care expenses out of pocket, and then submit the expense to Cigna HealthCare for reimbursement using the Reimbursement Request Form.
• You'll be reimbursed for eligible expenses using the pre-tax dollars contributed to your Flexible Spending Account.
• Unused dollars cannot be carried over into the following year.

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Eligible expenses

The following expenses are eligible for reimbursement under a Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account:

• Au pair agency fees—required application or agency fees or deposits that are paid in connection with the actual placement of an au pair or other caregiver
• Expenses for a day care center, summer day camp or preschool. The facility must be licensed under state or local law if it cares for seven or more children.
• Expenses for an unlicensed day care center that cares for six or fewer children
• Expenses at an adult day care facility (but not expenses for overnight, nursing home facilities)
• The cost of day care and housekeeping services in your home for your child or other qualifying individual
• The cost of meals, lunches and snacks, supplied by a day care provider (not the cost of meals while on field trips and outings or those meals included as part of the cost of such trips)

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Ineligible expenses

The following expenses are not eligible for reimbursement under a Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account:

• Day care for a child age 13 or older
• Overnight summer camp (cannot prorate for the day portion)
• Kindergarten or school tuition for a child age 5 and older
• Expenses for any care provided to a qualifying dependent by another dependent or child under age 19
• Housekeeping expenses not related to dependent day care
• The expenses for which you claim a dependent day care tax credit on your federal income tax return
• The registration fees paid for day care, summer camp, kindergarten, preschool, etc. The only exception is day camp or registration fees applied toward the first payable bill. These are eligible once the initial bill has been paid and the service has been provided.
• The cost of meals while on field trips and outings or those meals included as part of the cost of such trips
• Health care expenses for a dependent. These should be considered for reimbursement through a Health Care Flexible Spending Account.

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Ineligible receipts

You must submit an original statement showing date of service and type of dependent day care expense for reimbursement. The following receipts will not be accepted:

• Bankcard statements
• Illegible charges
• Estimates of expenses
• Statement balances
• Balance forwards

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