Read about it here from KaiserNetwork.org. Excerpt:
Treasury Department Secretary John Snow has denied a request from Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to revise a rule that requires employees at the end of the year to return to their employers any unspent funds in their flexible spending accounts, the Wall Street Journal reports (Herman, Wall Street Journal, 1/5).
Also, this excerpt from the Wall Street Journal article mentioned above:
In a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley , Mr. Snow contends the Treasury Department doesn’t have “sufficient legal authority” to change the rule administratively. But in the letter, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Snow leaves open the possibility of some tinkering with the Treasury’s “use it or lose it” rule. Mr. Snow says Treasury officials are searching for “creative solutions.”One possible approach may be to provide “a brief administrative grace period” each year, thus “effectively extending the period slightly beyond one year before amounts are forfeited,” Mr. Snow says in the letter. He doesn’t explain how long a grace period that might be, or when such a change might become effective.