Location: NH.
My employer was acquired 2/1/2025. This acquisition was something that had been in the works for many months. It was expected that the acquisition would be finalized so that we would all be employed under the new organization starting 1/1/2025, but it got delayed by a month due to delays in clearing the acquisition with the state. During open enrollment last year, I specifically asked about FSA/HRA benefit accounts and what would happen with them if the acquisition didn’t go through before the new plan year. Our benefits office told me that we would still be able to access these accounts and use them normally. After everything finalized, I asked benefits again what would happen. The benefits manager confirmed again that the accounts would be open and available to use. It turns out, the plans had an active date of 1/1/2025 – 1/31/2025. No one was informed of this or advised that we needed to try and use these funds ASAP. The company that administers the FSA/HRA benefit didn’t even get notice of the end date until a week or 2 into January.
I called the company that holds the plan in February or March and they had information stating the funds would rollover into a private account in my name, separate from the employer sponsored account, and I would be able to access this account starting 5/1/2025.
I’m currently trying to work with the company the benefit was with, but they haven’t been able to get a response from the contact info they have, and they dont seem to have the information about rolling over anymore. Part of the funds in these accounts were rolled over from last year and contain contributions that came out of my own paychecks.
Is this something that is normal/legal? Should I have access to the funds in these accounts, especially those from my own paychecks or rolled over from the last plan year? This affects more than just me as I know some of my coworkers also have these accounts. TIA