Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) Definition   Academic Research on Flexible Spending Account An examination offlexible spending accounts, Cardon, J. H., & Showalter, M. H. (2001). Journal of Health Economics,20(6), 935-954. This paper develops a framework for analyzing flexible spending account (FSA) participation and usage. It explores patterns of FSA usage using data from a benefits firm for 1996 including an examination of types of FSA expenditures and their timing. This paper shows that much of an FSA election amount is based on foreknowledge of expenditures. It also finds that that participants tend to spend their election amount early, thus obtaining an interest-free loan. Flexible spending accountsas insurance, Cardon, J. H., & Showalter, M. H. (2003). Journal of Risk and Insurance,70(1), 43-51. This paper models flexible spending accounts (FSAs) as a special type of insurance policy. It proves the following results given losses drawn from a continuous distribution: the optimal election amount, F^*, is increasing in the consumer's level of risk aversion; F^* is increasing in the level of the maximum loss; If utility is decreasing in absolute risk aversion (DARA), then F^* is decreasing in income and increasing in the marginal tax rate. Optimal annual contributions toflexible spending accounts: a rule-of-thumb, Cuddington, J. T. (1999). Economics Letters,62(1), 59-61. This paper explores the behaviour of many employees in contributing to flexible spending accounts. The paper shows that most employees under-contribute to these flexible spending accounts. The paper also provides useful advice on contributing to flexible spending accounts to maximize income flow for employed workers. It also provides a detailed calculation on the rate of contribution in relations to employee earnings and marginal tax rate. Employee cost-sharing and the welfare effects offlexible spending accounts, Jack, W., Levinson, A., & Rahardja, S. (2006).Journal of Public Economics,90(12), 2285-2301. This paper sumarizes the importance of Flexible Spending accounts (FSAs), and lists the importnace of investing and contribution to these accounts. Emphasis is placed on the health care sector in this literature for analysis. The paper uses a cross section of firm-level data to show that FSAs are indeed associated with reduced insurance coverage, and to evaluate the welfare consequences of this association. The paper show that FSAs may explain a significant fraction of the shift in health care costs to employees that has occurred in recent years. Employee choice offlexible spending accountparticipation and health plan, Hamilton, B. H., & Marton, J. (2008). Health Economics,17(7), 793-813. This paper examines the absence of sufficient literatures on FSAs, despite its profound popularity among different employees. This study contributes to the literature on FSAs using a unique data set that provides three years of employeelevelmatched benefits data. It examines the determinants of FSA participation and contribution levels using crosssectional and randomeffect twopart models. The paper shows that, nonwhites are less likely to participate in the FSA program, have lower contributions conditional on participation, and have a lower probability of switching to new lower cost share, higher premium plans when they were introduced. Who usesflexible spending accounts: effects of employee characteristics and employer strategies, Feldman, R., & Schultz, J. (2001). Medical care, 661-669. This paper explores the reasons for the provision of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) by most employers to their employees. It also shows the absence of literatures on the reluctance of employees to contribute to these FSAs. This paper aims to estimate equations for the probability that single employees with no dependents and employees with family health insurance coverage will contribute to FSAs, and the amounts contributed by those with FSAs. Flexible spending accountsand adverse selection, Cardon, J. H. (2010). Journal of Risk and Insurance,77(1), 145-153. This study models the interaction of flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and conventional insurance in a simple discrete loss setting with asymmetric information. It shows that FSA availability can break a separating equilibrium, even when one would otherwise exist, because highrisk types might prefer the lowercoverage contract supplemented with FSA funds. It is also shows that FSA availability alters optimal pooling contract. The effect of education on participation inflexible spending accounts, Hampton, V. L., Kitt, K. A., & Alexander, S. (1993). Financial Counseling and Planning,4. Health CareFlexible Spending Accounts, Mulvey, J., Peterson, C. L., & Lyke, B. (2004). RolloverFlexible Spending Accounts: More Health Choices for Americans, Moffit, R. E., & Beach, W. W. (1998).Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, (1159). Health insurance choice withflexible spending accounts, Cardon, J. H. (2012). The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review,37(2), 208-222. This paper models the interaction of flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and conventional insurance. It shows that FSA participation reduces the desired level of insurance coverage. It also shows that FSA participation can reduce the total tax cost of health insurance premium and FSA contribution exclusions.