FAQ - Health spending account

To be able to use your HSA credits, the care and services received must:

• Be eligible for the Medical Expense Tax Credit under Canada's Income Tax Act
• Not be fully covered by a private or government plan
• Have been prescribed by a healthcare professional (certain exceptions apply)

Eligible expenses are defined by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). For a complete list of eligible expenses, go to the CRA website External link. Opens in a new window., and enter “eligible medical expenses” in the site's search engine. For more details, click on the Income Tax Folio S1-F1-C1, Medical Expense Tax Credit External link. Opens in a new window. link.

Your plan may include restrictions. See your employee booklet for more details.

Your HSA balance is debited each time a claim is paid.

You can check your HSA balance three different ways:

• The secure site External link. Opens in a new window.: Click on Health spending account in the Your account menu.
• The Claim 360° mobile app: select Health spending account from the left menu bar on the home page.
• The explanation of benefits that's posted on the secure site or sent to you each time a claim is processed.

Any applicable coordination of benefits should be submitted before you claim amounts under your HSA. This will allow you to make the most of your insurance benefits.

Depending on the type of expenses incurred, there are several ways you can submit your claim:

• Via the secure site, by checking the online claim form
• Via the Claim 360° mobile app, by activating the HSA option in the File a claim section.
• By mail, by completing the Health spending account section of the following forms: Claim for Health Care Benefits – 19132A (PDF, 1.7 MB) Opens in a new window. and Claim for Dental Care Expenses – 19110A (PDF, 1.6 MB) Opens in a new window.

Transactions carried out using a payment card or through a healthcare professional aren't automatically submitted for reimbursement under an HSA. In both cases, if the expenses incurred aren't fully reimbursed, you'll have to pay your healthcare professional the difference, and then submit a claim for that amount.

Whether you're submitting a claim online or by mail, you must let us know which amounts you want to apply to your HSA. Outstanding amounts aren't automatically submitted to your HSA for reimbursement.

The period during which credits are available varies from plan to plan. Your employer decides how unused credits are managed. See your employee booklet for more details on how your credits are managed and when they can be used.

Credits can be managed in a number of ways:

• Credit carry-forward: any credits that haven't been used during the year for which they were intended are carried forward to the following year
• Expense carry-forward: any expenses that aren't reimbursed in full during the year in which they are incurred can be carried forward and paid with the credits available the following year. Any unused credits will be lost.
• No carry-forward: any unused credits at the end of the year will be lost.