AGR / active duty · healthcare FSA
Enroll in FSAFEDS (HCFSA / dependent care)
Uniformed services can buy a health-care flexible spending account on fsafeds.gov. Recut from FINRED / FSAFEDS: regular-component active duty and AGR. Drilling Selected Reserve is a different rule. Open season, or 60 days after you become eligible. I will not file it.
01
Confirm you are actually eligible
Recut from FINRED and FSAFEDS: members of the regular (active) component, and Reserve component members performing AGR duty, can enroll in a Health Care FSA. Drilling Selected Reserve is not this door. Retirees who are not re-employed generally cannot. Confirm the live FAQ on fsafeds.gov before you elect a dollar amount.
02
Enroll on fsafeds.gov — not milConnect
Open season (Federal Benefits Open Season in November–December) or within 60 days of becoming newly eligible / a qualifying life event. You will need identity, a bank account for reimbursements, and the annual election. Enrollment does not carry forward year to year.
03
Know the use-it-or-carry-over rules
Health-care FSA dollars are for eligible medical, dental, and vision costs TRICARE did not cover. Dependent-care FSA is a different bucket for child care. Carry-over and grace-period rules live on FSAFEDS. Guessing from a Facebook post is how people forfeit money in April.