Employee Benefits

The out-of-pocket medical and dependent care expenses that you pay each year can quickly add up to hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Ordinarily, these expenses are paid with after-tax money. Dallas County offers Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) that allows you to use pretax salary dollars to pay for these expenses often at significant savings for your family.

Dallas County is joined with a cooperative insurance group along with other city and county agencies. That insurance company is PEBC (Public Employee Benefits Cooperative). The information below outlines the two types of Flexible Spending (FLEX) Accounts provided to employees. These benefits are available to full time employees only.

Two Types of Flexible Spending (FLEX) Accounts:

The Section 125 Flexible Spending Account plan is administered by Health Equity. The plan helps you save money for health care and dependent care expenses. This benefit allows you to deduct money from your paychecks for:

1. General purpose FSA Health care reimbursement for qualified out-of-pocket health care expenses that are not covered by insurance (i.e. prescription and office visit co-pays, lab fees, glasses, contacts, dental services, over-the-counter products, etc.);
2. Dependent care reimbursement for costs paid to the day care.  When you elect this benefit, you will enjoy a tax savings because the money for these items is deducted before taxes.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Update for 2025

Your flexible spending account (FSA) balance is yours to spend through Dec. 31, 2025.  After that, funds in excess of $640 will be lost — so be sure to use them while you can.

Plan your FSA spending

Your FSA funds may be used for qualified medical costs like copays and deductibles, prescriptions and some over-the-counter medicines, dependent care and more.  

Go to my.healthequity.com to check your remaining FSA balance and use it before the end of the year.  

• Note: If you incur an eligible expense by Dec. 31, 2025, you’ll have until April 30, 2026, to submit a claim. 

For additional information, please visit the Public Employees Benefits Cooperative (PEBC) website at www.pebcinfo.com.

If you have specific questions about your benefits, please contact the Human Resources Department at (214) 653-6161.

An HSA is a savings account that you can use to help cover qualified health care expenses, and you must be enrolled in a high-deductible health plan to participate.  Unlike an FSA, there is no “use it or lose it” rule, and it comes with triple tax benefits:

• Deposits are income tax-free
• Savings grow tax-free
• Withdrawals made for qualified expenses are also income tax-free

To be eligible to contribute to an HSA, you must be enrolled in the high-deductible health plan, not have health coverage except for a high-deductible health plan, not be claimed as a dependent on someone’s tax return, not be enrolled in Medicare and not have received Veteran’s Affairs benefits in the past three months

HSA-qualified expenses

There are thousands of qualified medical expenses and services you can pay for with an HSA.  Here are a few:

• Doctor visits
• Prescription medications
• Dental care
• Vision care

Note:  You can learn more about Health Savings Account’s (HSA) at healthequity.com

Contributions from your employer

If you enroll in the HDP during annual enrollment, your employer will make a one-time cash deposit of $750 (seed money) to your HSA account in January.

For new employees, the “seed money” contributions are available once your high-deductible plan becomes effective
For additional information, please visit the Public Employees Benefits Cooperative (PEBC) website at www.pebcinfo.com.

If you have specific questions about your benefits, please contact the Human Resources Department at (214) 653-6161.