Can a spouse's COBRA insurance payment be submitted to a health FSA fo

[Guest Randype]

Can a spouse's COBRA insurance payment be submitted to a health FSA for reimbursement?

[Guest llerner]

Unfortunately COBRA Premium payments are excluded from health care reimbursement accounts. If your wife was listed as a dependent on your health care reimbursement account, she can only submit eligible health care related receipts for services, purchases of non-covered by insurance items.

Even if you have the ability to pre-tax your own group premiums through your employers premium account, you cannot use your employer's account to pre-tax those premiums of a dependent employed somewhere else (COBRA is considered group insurance). Plan document permitting - individual premium accounts could reimburse you for your spouse's individual (not group insurance) premiums.

There is confusion about this due to the final regs regarding health care FSAs eligibility for COBRA continuation. This means that you would elect COBRA if terminated for your health care account (only) and fund until the end of the plan year and receive reimbursements for non-covered heath related services, items that are eligible.