Carnegie Mellon University
Human Resources  ›  Benefits and Pay  ›  Spending Accounts  ›  Submitting and Substantiating Claims

Submitting and Substantiating Claims

Claims and documentation are submitted through WEX, the university's Flexible Spending Account vendor. Claims must be received by June 30 following the end of the plan year.

Spending Account Information and Forms

Submit a Claim

You can either pay for eligible health or dependent care expenses with an FSA debit card or pay out of pocket and request reimbursement.

Pay With Your WEX Benefits Debit Card

  • WEX will mail debit cards by January 1 of the plan year.
  • Pay for eligible items with your WEX benefits card. Payments are automatically withdrawn from your reimbursement account.

Submit a Claim for Reimbursement

Substantiate a Claim

The IRS requires participants to provide documentation to make sure the expenses are eligible for pre-tax benefits plans.

  • When using your WEX debit card: if WEX doesn't receive enough detail from the merchant or provider, you'll receive a request for an itemized receipt or explanation of benefits.
  • If you pay out of pocket for a product or service: you will submit your itemized receipt or explanation of benefits when you file the claim. You may be asked for additional documentation if your initial submission does not suffice.

How to Submit Documentation

If asked to submit documentation to substantiate a claim, you can upload your itemized receipt or explanation of benefits through either:


Details to Include in the Documentation

The IRS requires that participants provide:

  • Date service was received or purchase made
  • Description of service or item purchased
  • Dollar amount (after insurance, if applicable)
  • Name of merchant/provider

An explanation of benefits from your insurance carrier typically has all the required information. See examples from WEX.

How to Access an Explanation of Benefits (EOB)

Why Claims Are Not Automatically Approved

Not all expenses from a hospital or dental office are eligible under your plan. For example, some hospital gift stores sell flowers that could still be coded as "hospital" expenses, and some dental offices provide elective services like teeth whitening that could still be coded as "dental" expenses. Unfortunately, these are not eligible.

By obtaining supporting documentation, WEX is able to verify the eligibility of the expense to maintain compliance with IRS regulations.