Back-to-school is an exciting time. Whether your first child is starting kindergarten or you’re finally getting your older kids out of the house after a long summer, the beginning of the school year means a change in routines and some added expenses. The good news is, you can use health and lifestyle benefits offered by your employer to help adjust to the new season.

In this post, we’ll highlight the flexible benefits that can help you pay for the added expenses that come up as kids go back to school. If you’re not currently enrolled in your employer’s flexible benefits, there’s more good news– it’s almost open enrollment time. Enroll in these benefits this fall and enjoy their perks throughout the 2025.

What are flexible benefits?

Fringe benefits complement traditional benefits like health insurance and retirement savings plans. These offerings can be employee or employer-funded and can help provide employees with financial assistance when paying for eligible expenses. The following are fringe benefits that can help with back-to-school costs.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

HSAs are savings accounts into which employees and employers can deposit tax-free money to pay for qualified medical expenses. Contributions are tax-free to the employee when they’re made, they grow tax-free, and as long as the distributions are made to pay for qualified medical expenses, the distributions are tax-free as well. 

In order to qualify to contribute to an HSA, you must be enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). But once you’ve started an HSA, you never lose access to your contributions. So if you cease to be covered by the HDHP, you can still use previously made contributions for qualified medical expenses. You just can’t contribute additional money until your health insurance plan changes back to an HDHP.

An HSA can be used to pay for a wide range of eligible expenses including: copays, coinsurance, prescriptions, eyeglasses, and more. Account holders can also use their HSA to pay for eligible expenses for their spouse and dependents, even if those family members aren’t covered by the account holder’s HDHP.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

FSAs are employer-sponsored accounts into which employees and employers can deposit pre tax money to pay for eligible expenses. Eligible expenses include: copays, coinsurance, prescriptions, sunscreen, medical equipment like crutches, dental work, childcare etc. (depending on the type of FSA). 

FSAs offer flexibility as they can be paired with any kind of health insurance plan, but since they’re employer-sponsored, unused balances expire at the end of the plan year or if the account holder leaves the company. Employers can choose to offer employees either a 2 ½ month grace period in which to use their remaining balance or they can allow employees to roll over a portion to the following plan year.

There are three types of FSAs:

• Healthcare or General Purpose FSA. This supports payment of eligible medical expenses. 

• Limited Purpose FSA (LPFSA). This supports payment of eligible dental and vision expenses.

• Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA). This supports the payment of eligible child and adult day care expenses that allows the employee to work.

Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)

An HRA is an employer-sponsored and employer-funded account through which employees can reimburse for eligible expenses. Any expenses employees reimburse for through this account are tax-free. The types of expenses eligible for reimbursement will depend on the type of HRA the employer offers. Common types of HRAs include:

• Group Coverage HRA or Integrated HRA. This account allows employees to reimburse for eligible medical expenses like sports physicals, copays, coinsurance, dental and vision care, and more. This type of HRA must be paired with a group health plan and can’t reimburse for expenses that are covered under said health plan.

• Dental and Vision HRA. This account allows for employees to reimburse for dental and vision expenses.

• Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA). This type of HRA is offered by employers to help employees buy health insurance in the private market. 

• Qualified Small Employer HRA (QSEHRA). This type of HRA can be offered by employers with fewer than 50 employees to help them buy health insurance in the private market.

Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA)

LSAs are employer-funded accounts meant to support everyday lifestyle expenses like gym memberships, wellness apps, fitness classes, personal and professional development, pet care, and remote working expenses. The employer has a lot of flexibility in how they structure their LSA(s), including the types of expenses for which they’ll reimburse, how much they’ll reimburse each employee, and how often they replenish the accounts (i.e. monthly, quarterly, annually).

Employees must pay income taxes on the expenses for which they reimburse through their LSA. Employers can choose to rollover unused balances at the end of the plan term, or allow them to expire. Since this is an employer-funded account, employees lose access to it once they leave the company.

How health and lifestyle benefits can help with back to school costs

Now that you have a brief overview of how these health and lifestyle benefits can supplement the traditional employer-sponsored benefits like health insurance, we’ll explain how you can use them to help with the back-to-school shuffle. 

1. Childcare. If you’re a working parent and you don’t have access to free after-school care, you can use a DCFSA to help pay for the care you need before and after school. You can pay for a nanny or babysitter (and even their travel expenses if necessary), after-school programs, and day camps. You can also use a DCFSA to help pay for elder care for a dependent adult that lives with you in your home. During the summer, you can use your DCFSA to pay for summer camps for your children. Your employer may also offer a post-tax Lifestyle Spending Account to help you pay for childcare expenses outside of work hours.

2. Back-to-school and sports physicals. Any of the fringe benefit accounts that will reimburse for health-related expenses can be used to pay for back-to-school health requirements. These include: HSAs, Healthcare FSAs, Integrated and Group HRAs, ICHRAs, QSEHRAs. 

3. Back-to-school wellness necessities. First aid items, menstrual care products, and over-the-counter medications such as pain relievers and cold medicine are HSA and FSA eligible. Search thousands of eligible expenses using Lively’s What’s Eligible page.  

4. Conveniences. Regardless of the family’s schedule, getting back into the school routine can make certain chores and errands feel burdensome. An LSA that supports grocery delivery, health food delivery services, or prepared meal services, can help ease the burden of feeding the family during a busy time.  

5. Newfound personal time. Maybe you’re one of the lucky parents that has found themselves with a little more personal time now that the kids are going back to school. An LSA that supports hobbies, personal wellness, and professional development can help you pay for the enriching activities you want to engage in.

Sign up for health and lifestyle benefits during open enrollment

If you’re not already enrolled in your company’s fringe benefit accounts, consider doing so during open enrollment this fall. The benefits won’t take effect until your plan year starts, often January 1 (unless you’ve experienced a qualifying event like marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child), but you will have them to support your needs throughout the rest of the school year, summer, and the start of next year.

To decide which flexible benefits will be the most helpful for you consider: 

1. What costs that take the biggest bite out of your budget? 

2. What issues are most challenging as your family shifts from school, to summer, to back-to-school?

3. Estimate the expenses you think you’ll have over the course of the year. If you choose a benefit like an FSA, you’ll need to identify the amount you’re going to contribute to the account over the course of the year and you won’t be able to change the amount unless you experience a qualifying life event like the birth of a child.

Once you've chosen which benefits will work for you, during open enrollment sign up for the fringe benefits that are going to help ease the transition between seasons for the family.

Get started with Lively

Lively offers an entire suite of popular benefit accounts for employers and Health Savings Accounts for both individuals and employers. We partner with employers to ensure they’ve crafted the most impactful benefits package for their employees, and our ongoing education and knowledgeable customer support helps employees get the most out of their benefits. Our goal is to help people become healthier and happier through supportive benefits. If you’re ready to uplevel your benefits package, reach out today.