A Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA) is a tax-advantaged account that allows you to use pre­tax dollars to pay for qualified medical expenses. You enroll in an HCFSA at the beginning of each year and can access these funds throughout the year. The contribution is subject to certain legal limits. There is a minimum contribution amount of $120, and the maximum contribution amount is currently $3,050.

• If you elect to enroll in the HCFSA you will receive a VISA debit card. Funds will be available for use as of January 1, 2024.
• If you are on an approved leave of absence and not contributing via payroll deductions to your HCFSA, when you return to work you will have catch-up payments for the prior pay periods in which payroll deductions did not occur.
• Enrollment in a HCFSA ends on the last day of employment. Participants can still submit reimbursement requests for claims that were incurred up through the last day of employment, if any funds remain available on the account.
• In the case of COBRA, the employee can elect to continue the HCFSA for the remainder of the year by submitting direct payments to the Chicago Benefits Office.

A Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA) is a tax-advantage account that allows you to use pre-tax dollars to pay for qualified childcare and/or adult dependent care expenses. You enroll at the beginning of each year and can access these funds throughout the year. The contribution is subject to certain legal limits. Currently, the minimum contribution is $120. The maximum contribution is $5,000 ($2,500 if married filing a separate income tax return).

• Unlike the HCFSA, the DCFSA does not pre-load funds (front load) onto a Visa debit card. You must submit claims directly to Optum to be reimbursed. You will only be reimbursed the amount that you contribute.
• For more information, review the employee guide HCFSA and the DCFSA Summaries.

Yes. All full-time employees are eligible to enroll in the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) health plan within the first 30 days of employment. Enroll at the Benefits Service Center at: www.cityofchicagobenefits.org or 877.299.5111.

For up-to-the-minute information regarding your account(s), 24 hours per day, seven days a week, you can visit ConnectYourCare at:  www.connectyourcare.com/cityofchicago/.   You may contact a client service representative at 1-833­-229­-4428 Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time.

• Sign in to your online account and select commuter benefits.
• Select the transit services you want.
• Receive your order at home by mail. 
• The cost of your orders, within the IRS limits, are automatically deducted from your paycheck pre-tax.

• Buses
• Trains and subways

If your employer’s plan design includes the employer election model, you’ll enroll annually during open enrollment to save throughout the plan year.

• Enroll in commuter benefits through your employer.
• Choose how much you want to contribute, within IRS limits.
• Your contribution amount will be deducted from your paycheck before taxes.
• Use your Optum Financial payment card to access your funds for qualified transportation costs

When you use your payment card for qualified transit expenses, there is no paying cash up front, no claim forms to fill out and no waiting for reimbursements. 

Use your card at transit providers to pay for qualified expenses like mass transit passes, tokens, fare card expenses. The cost of the expense is automatically deducted from your account. You can check your account balance at any time by signing into your account.

• Link to view your account and check your balance.

Any remaining balance at the end of the month rolls over to the next month. While funds do roll over, you are still limited to spending $300 per account per month. Monthly, amounts change annually please visit Optium.com website for updates.

The IRS limits monthly contributions and expenditures to $300 for transit expenses for the 2023 calendar year.

The money that pays for your pass comes from your pay, and is taken out before federal income tax, FICA (Medicare), state income tax and other after-tax deductions.

No. The IRS does not require any reporting for this type of program.

You can enroll at any time, visit Optium.com for the details of your program.

Each month, your transit media will be delivered by the first of the month in which it is valid. If you use the Edenred® card, it will be reloaded automatically on the first of the benefit month.

If you haven’t received your pass by the 1st of the benefit month, please contact Optum Financial customer service at 1-833-229-4428. If you do not receive your Ventra Card, please contact CTA, Customer Service at 1-888-YOUR-CTA.

Ventra can be used for CTA (buses) and Metra (train).  Use the Ventra app to purchase your Metra tickets by entering your MasterCard to the app to pay for the tickets.

Once you make your transit election, your order amount is transmitted back to the City of Chicago. They will then withhold that amount from your next paycheck. The City of Chicago then sends those funds to Edenred® card to be used to purchase and mail the various pass orders. The enrollment and disenrollment process takes approximately 2 months.

Once you elect to discontinue your commuter benefit, your request will be sent to the City of Chicago. They will then stop your deduction.

If you want to enroll, change, or terminate your commuter benefit you would either call or go online to discontinue the benefit. We have a two-month run out, so deductions taken in November would be used to fund January, so if a person discontinued the benefit, they would have two more months of funding to use after the last month of deductions.

Since the benefit has a two-month run out period, your expenses will be funded for two more cycles after your final termination date. Please note that if you have a large balance on your MasterCard, those funds cannot be reimbursed to you. Therefore, you risk forfeiting any unused balances after the end of that period. You can use up to the monthly limit until that time.

This program is sponsored by the City of Chicago and brought to you by Optum Financial.

Not to you. The City of Chicago covers all the administrative costs associated with running the program as part of the benefit package you receive.

For information about enrollment, participation, and eligible expenses, please visit Optium.com or you can call Monday through Friday 24 hours per day, seven days a week to talk to a customer service representative at 1.833.229.4428.