WageWorks
Reviews and Complaints

you know everyone is complaining about wageworks but whose fault is it really?..wageworks? or you all for not reading the fine print?..all the information is provded to you, ..next time, know what youre sighning up for.

WageWorks is less than forthright about how they evaluate the receipts provided for reimbursement from Flexible Spending Accounts. I have found no consistency or transparency in how they interpret the validity of a receipt and a reluctance to put anything in writing about how guidelines are used to disqualify a receipt. It seems to me that a legitimate company would not hesitate to document their decisions. This is a cause for concern.

We have had the same experience with our medical bills. After our son was born we were out a good amount of money; after going through insurance we still had over a thousand left to pay out of pocket. We planned for that - that's why we had WageWorks. We were so wrong. The birth took place end of September. After all the insurance paperwork was done, and the final bills came in, it was already the new year. Initially, WageWorks just denied everything. I mean, everything. We kept sending in receipts, hospital bills, itemized list of charges (a separate printout we had to go to the hospital during business hours to obtain), and of course a volume of insurance statements. Still, nothing. Total denial.

So not to the phones. My wife called, got placed on hold too many times to mention, wasted hours of her time, and finally learned that "oh, sorry, we didn't notice you have until March to submit your claims for the previous year". Right - they didn't notice. Every account has that three month grace period because it's obvious the insurance companies don't turn around that fast. They paid out eventually, but the time wasted, the frustration - all of that was too much for a simple medical expenses savings account.

Now fast forward to this year. Again it's December, and again all of the sudden there are all these charges they started to question. So our account is suspended, and they're questioning over $200 of charges. We've already submitted our receipts and insurance statements, but seems that's not enough. And they don't communicate - just like the original complainant said. They just tell you they don't like a transaction, and then you figure out what it is that they need.

So we think we've figured this out. WageWorks makes their money when, at the end of the year, there are funds left in the accounts. They just keep that. So in fact it's in their interest to just not pay out. And the plan is probably that most people will become too frustrated to jump through all the hoops, and give up. Do that a million times over and you've got yourself a tidy profit margin.

This is why next year we're giving a different company a try - PayFlex. People at my work have been saying good things. And if that doesn't work, we'll just keep all our receipts and itemize. Seems like at the end of the year that may be more time-efficient than dealing with WageWorks.

I have tried everything under the sun to (1) log-on to my account with WageWorks - I can't remember my password and no one from the company will answer my question; (2) get my balance for the current year by calling their customer service number - no response even after two weeks. WageWorks questions each and every expenditure I submit (by faxing because I cannot log onto their website) even though each one is obviously legitimate. I hope to retire within the next four years and wonder if Social Security could be any worse than WageWorks. If so, OMG! WageWorks is just another example of U.S. companies who take your money and then proceed to thumb their noses at you.

Hey Executive Escalation Team,

You want to be really useful? Be initially accessible some other way than snail mail. I just got turned down for my daycare reimbursement because my employer put down the wrong separation date; I was laid off and the discrepancy was 22 days. The catch? I had $800 bucks in the account, my daycare is $700 bucks a month. I just want my money out, but nobody at Wageworks is authorized to have common sense because "the dates are unauthorized".

The only solution offered, after waiting ten days to hear my claim was denied, was to MAIL the escalation team on the opposite coast and wait two weeks.

Am having same problem! I did not realize that if money is not used employer keeps money! No wonder employer not cooperative, they want my hard earned money, and using WageWorks to get it!

Scam is the word I would use. I am moving out ot the commuter area and Wageworks has a strict "No Refunds" policy.

Having talked to wageworks several times this write up looks like one that was done by a paid employee to offset the many negatives that are posted. This is a common practice by many companies. Can't say for sure but my experiences have been 100% in the other direction many times. Was not bad until this year when they obviously outsourced customer service.

Same happened to me. I believe that WAGEWORKs has exploited and discriminated against me because of my disability and that is why my appeal for wrongful termination has been DENIED. Before hiring a lawyer, I want to know if there is a way I can repeal WAGEWORKS decision of denying my appeal against WRONGFUL TERMINATION OF COVERAGE. I paid my bill for November 2016. I have proof of that. Coverage was still dropped without my knowledge and refund check was sent 3 months later. And yet my appeal against this termination was DENIED. I made my cobra payment, then they terminated the insurance coverage for medical and extended the dental coverage an additional month for no reason with no notice and how I found out i was terminated was I got a refund check 4 months post payment of my medical coverage stating that I owed them 51 dollars for dental coverage. Now all the services I thought I was covered for (because I paid by bill) that wageworks cashed are no longer covered or paid for and went to collections. I filed an appeal and they denied it because they stated I owed them for dental coverage, despite my proof of payments. They do not allow for a rebuttal of their descion, they said if I want to challenge their denial of my appeal I would have to sue. I have no funds for a lawyer, they know this, they exploit and abuse their power any chance they can - they even denied a HIPPA form so that when I am too ill my mother could not advocate for me. Thanks, Josephine Barnett and Maria Strocchia, her mother who has HIPPA authorization as Josephine do not always have the capacity to speak or which WAGEWORKS have taken FULL advantage of by prolonging HIPPA for her mother, wrongful termination, and denying her appeal.

Keep in mind much of Wageworks "projects" are not done in house. The Kaiser Permanent OCA case management and FSA inbound calls are done by West Corp. Tulsa OK. I feel very sorry for Wageworks customers but even worse for the Westl employees who make about 10 dollars.

Trust me your payment was received on time. Here s the scoop on that one their data entry dept is normally about 6 months behind as well as the accounting dept. During OE time it usually takes them 7 months to have anyones information put into the system depending on what location your sending it too. As far as appeals go dont bother because the project managers never get around to the letters due to them fighting with human resources departments about peoples benefits. Its a known fact that appeals are normally rejected every time and refunds are handed back about 4 months later. Your best bet is to go back to your former employer and report the company to the human resources department. Make them call up Wage-works and see why they can celled your policy, and also tell them they should think about hiring a new administrator to take over the cobra benefits because trust me your not going to get anywhere with these people. Tell your former human resources companies they can call the human resources depts from these corporations as well to find out why they left in a hurry. Dollar Thrifty, Harsco, and Standex. Hope this helps you!

I am very disappointed with wageworks. I have been submitting claims receipt for over 1.5 months and they still have not resolve my claim. In addition, very time I call to check on the status they make excuse that they never recieve the informations I submitted when I have evident from their e-mail stated they received the information. The worst part, they manager can't even do anything, I don't see the point why they even have a manager when they can't make a decision.

I have been trying to get a FSA credit card since Dec. 2019 and it’s APRIL 2020. For the love of me, where is my card? I speak with a live person, my address is right. I can not get a credit card. Is there a location I can go to get a card on the spot?

I have a problem with my FSA account, American Fidelity inactivated my card recently because I paid for some dental work (247.00 worth) done at the end of 2018 in February 2019. They inactivated my card and said the payment came out of 2019 and I need to repay it back because it was treatment done in 2018, even though I had 239.00 that rolled over into this Calendar year from 2018 which I opted for the 1000.00 for the year amount to be withdrawn from my paycheck bi weekly at the rate of approx 83.00 biweekly. So the dilemma is if I don’t repay back the 247.00 they paid out to my dentist in February my card will remain inactive and I won’t be able to use it for co pays on anything till I make up the 247.00, all because I swiped the card and didn’t submit it as a claim. To me that means I’m being forced to pay it back and they will still take money out of my paycheck every week. I feel like it’s blackmail, and why should I have to pay it back when they will receive 1000.00 of my money this year plus the rollover amount of 239.00, and then I have to pay back 247.00 by paying for things out of pocket and submit as claims that they will put it towards the 247.00. Is it me or am I being bullied and blackmailed, I need my medicines I have MS and take drugs for that and I have high blood pressure. I feel paying 247.00 is like double paying it. Someone tell me what I need to do as I went around in circles with the insurance company and was told there was nothing I could do and the IRS makes the rules and we have to suck it up.

I found out the hard way that flex spending account are frauds. I am a single mom that works one job. I was advised through my benefits department that a flex account would be good for my childcare. I signed up with the First Financial Group of America. This company never contacted me nor sent me any type of information about their company but they faithfully remembered to take my money. I finally contacted the company. Even though this account had never been used or deducted from in 11 months, I find out after contacting them that the account totaled $4800 that they planned to keep. I then questioned their methods. I brought it to their attention that the account had never been used. I also asked about their account managers managing the account but not noticing that the account had not been used. I was informed that they were keeping my money and that it's an IRS rule that says they can. I then scramble to find my daycare receipts. I finally locate a few and send them in because they do not take processed checks from your bank. In the end, they kept $2100 of my money that could have helped my single parent household a great deal. I told the representative that this was a very expensive lesson to learn and that I will manage my own money in my own savings account in the future.

FSA is horrible. I will never give them my money again. They are stealing and incompetent.

My company had Tasc for a number of years. They were professional all the way. They had a debit card that would differentiate between allowable and non allowable expenses and not pay non allowed. It was like using your bank card. They switched to PayFlex for 2017 and people started having problems; denials of claims, cards shut down so you can't use them. I still have $1500.00 in account that I may use. Whats worse is that claims that may have been payed get denied then you have to reimburse PayFlex for spending your own money. Then you have to pay the bill again out of your pocket. The companies lead you to believe that the IRS gets left over money. Now that I know the company gets it back I understand what is really happening. They tell you that they changed to save you money however, if Tasc was hassle free they stood less chance of making money off of the programe.

In order to file a complaint or question regarding flexible spending accounts, you can contact the US Dept of Labor- Employee Benefits Security Administration. You can file online or contact them at (866)444-EBSA. They overlook health spending accounts.

by the way, it doesn't matter if you know what your plan rules are, if they wont accept claim, after you have given the a copy of your plan, which you took directly off their website, and still wont put item in correct category and still refuse to reimburse you for it there's really not much you can do. so above where it state s it our responsibility to our plan is not helpful. we know our plan, we know rules, we checked fsa store ect. if fsa provider cant simply look at fsa store they refer us to, its bs. crooks DO NO T EVER DO FSA. RIP OFF. EMPLOYEER KEEPS MONEY.

I don't think an agency regulates these fsa providers. I'm convinced employers choose the worst ones out there so they can keep the money you don't use. your employer gets to keep money not the fsa provider. I'm convinced the fsa provider must get a portion of it, that's why they deny everything. I even sent a pic of the item I chose off the fsa store website and still denied it. finally I wrote a short letter where I pasted off the irs website the definition of medical expense. I said I spoke to fsa store and the irs and both authorized. said this was there last chance to put my item in correct category of medical equipment, not special equipment before notifying state and federal officials . I also took a pic off wage works more inclusive items of categories which show no rx or letter is needed for the item I bought . its ridiculous. I included another pic off fsa store . I was going to include the chat notes from the fsa store also if needed where I tricked the fsa rep into telling me the category the item I wished to purchase fell under (medical equipment) then I copied and pasted conversation for later use. . they finally approved it, however they did not change to correct category of medical equipment. They kept it under special equipment which requires a prescription that I do no have because its not needed had it been put in correct category. now I'm wandering if irs is gong to question me over their incompetence. I also submitted shipping under the (other )category due to no option of shipping category, and they changed it to mileage. I bought it online so there was no mileage. I've asked them to correct multiple times but I've been ignore over 15 attempts. does anyone know who regulates these agencies? I rather not be in the middle of an irs dispute, but will f that's what it takes. try submitting it again . mine has an app you can use, so I typed out short irs part, took a pic and sent it first. if its to lengthy they wont read it. will paste below
I wrote ...you put my item under the wrong category of special equipment and now req a letter. I DO NOT need al ester for medical equipment. this is not special equipment. see pic of my plans policies. these items are determined by irs, IRS ' 213(d)(1), not you. therefore please read this as posted on irs website. its my last attempt before notifying and filing a complaint with irs and state and fed regulators.
per irs site

excuse typo's, , , I cannot deal with this crap anymore
What is medical equipment?
Medical equipment encompasses a huge range of items designed to be used by account holders to treat a medical condition or monitor its status. Under IRS ' 213(d)(1), "medical care includes amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body." this includes medical equipment, supplies and devices. As such, consumer-directed account holders can be fully reimbursed for the purchase of medical equipment with their employee benefits

if you want to get in writing, go to fsa store and persistently ask questions on the chat popup like, who determines the products on this site. you say its guaranteed, so are you saying irs determines products or your provider? it cant be provider because they couldn't guarantee each item. copy and save conversation before you exit as proof. ask about the item you bought. sure its on site if covered. pasted below. I removed emotes name and changed to fsa store to protect employee of fsa store
Welcome to FSAstore! How may I help you today?
ME→Your site says product qualifying for fsa is guaranteed. can I assume everything on site is correct for all non limited fsa products? Are these products determined by IRS medical expenses guidlines, or can each plan or employer choose what qualifies? I know there are limited plans etc, but if you have an FSA which IS NOT a limited fsa, should all product rules be the same? I'm having issues.
FSA STORE: All of the merchandise on our website is 100% FSA-eligible guaranteed! Please keep in mind that the items listed with a red check do not require a prescription. Items with a blue Rx logo indicate they require a prescription in order to be eligible.
ME→THAT MEANS NO LETTER ALSO IF ITS A RED CHECK, CORRECT?
FSA STORE: Correct.
ME→CATOGORY? PERSONAL ITEM, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT?
FSA STORE: Pain relief
ME→MY PLAN DOESNT HAVE A PAIN RELIEF CATEGORY WHEN FILING CLAIMES
FSA STORE: You can include it under medical equipment
ME→HOW ABOUT REVIIVE PANEL LIGHT TREATMENT? WANT IT FOR THE INFRARED, BUT PLAN SAYS I NEED A LETTER FROM DR CLAIMING ITS SPECIAL EQUIPENT
FSA STORE: it is FSA eligible, it's better to contact your FSA plan provider why it is not covered.
ME→Are these products determined by IRS medical expenses guidelines, or can each plan or employer choose what qualifies? I know there are limited plans etc, but if you have an FSA which IS NOT a limited fsa, should all product rules be the same?
FSA STORE: I sincerely apologize, we are a specialty store that strictly sells FSA eligible items, Please reach out to your FSA Administrator (the number should be on the back of your card) to find out.
FSA STORE: All items are guaranteed to be FSA eligible and we work with the IRS and your FSA administrator to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible.
ME→SO YES THEN, ALL FSA PLANS FOR THE MOST PART COVER THE SAME ITEMS DETERMINED BY IRS NOT THE PLAN HOLDDER LIKE WAGE WORKS FOR EXAMPLE
ME→I BOUGHT YOUR REVIVE FULL FACE LIGHT THERAPY PANEL AND THEY DENIED IT SAYING I NEED A LETTER BECAUSE ITS CONSIDERED A SPECIAL EQUIPMENT. IM ACTUALLY USING FOR THE RED AND INFRA RED ASPECT.
FSA STORE: do you have an FSA carad?
ME→I HAVE AN ACCOUNT, BUT THE WAGEWORKS NEVER PROVIDED ME A CARD, MEVER KNEW THERE WAS ONE AVAIABLE.I HAVE TO ASK BECAUSE WHILE YOU SAY ITS GUARRANTEED, IM BEING ASKED TO PROVIDE A LETTER, WHEN FSA SAYS I DONT NEED RX OR LETTER.I CAN GET ONE, BUT THOSE EARENT THE RULES. SO YOU CANT TELL ME IF ITEMS ARE DETERMINED BY THE IRS, OR DOES EACH PLAN GET TO CHOSE WHAT TO COVER?
FSA STORE: our items are determined by IRS.
FSA STORE: But we are not the one who manage your plan.
FSA STORE: You need to ask your plan administrator why the item is denied.

ME→THANK U . THEN TELL ME THIS, IS THE REVIVE PANEL BE A SPECIAL EQIPMENT ITEM, ? I THOUGHT THAT WAS HOME MODIFICATIONS ECT.
FSA STORE: It does not require prescription or letter of medical necessity so not special equipment
ME→THANK YOU. SAFE TO SAY MOST ITEMS THAT ARE LIKE A MEDICAL DEVICE ON HERE ARE MOSTLY CONSIDERED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. DOESNT HAVE TO BE JUST DIABETIC STUFF
FSA STORE :You can ask them for list of items you can purchase using your plan.
FSA STORE: or better to ask them for an FSA card. .
ME→LIST ONLY SHOWS CATAGORIES, NOT ITEMS, THEY REFER TO FSA STORE.DOES SAY MEDICAL EQUIOMENT./REPAIRS (DIABETIC MONITOR, ) BUT VAGUE. ON WAGEWORK SITE, AND ON MORE DETAILED PAGE, IT SHOWD MEDICAL EQUPMENT AS COVERED WITH NO RX OR LETTTER NEEDED.
ME→ DO U THINK MAYBE I SHOULD CONSULT WITH IRS FOR CLARIFICATIONS I CANT GET FROM PROVIDER? Only found file A complaint on IRS site. Guess thats only option. To late to return item now.
FSA STORE : That would be a good idea to call IRS

Wage Works is not the only FSA administrator that is bad. My employer uses PayFlex and I have had numerous disputes with them. I appealed one rejected claim to them and sent them the IRS guidelines which they were in violation of, and they rejected my appeal. I am in the process of appealing to the IRS. Then, because I had so much left over in the account (if the appeal fails) I decided to start buying things that I could use. Their own web site says that compression socks qualify for FSA reimbursement, but they refused to reimburse me. I will never use a flexible spending account again. They are a rip-off.

Does anyone know how to contact a person in authority with Wage Works? I enrolled this year as I usually do, and I received my confirmation of enrollment in January and my pay was deducted biweekly as planned. Unfortunately, Wage Works is great about taking my pay, but not at paying me back for my out of pocket medical expenses! I have over $2000 in co-pays, deductibles, etc. from January to August of this year that I have EOBs for and I have not been reimbursed for them! I contacted Wage Works and they said it was the error of my insurance (after being on hold over an hour)! I contacted my insurance and they investigated and they found that Wage Works shows I was not enrolled until Sept. 11, 2016! What?!?! So, my insurance never submitted any EOBs to Wage Works for me to be reimbursed! First off - no one can sign up for anything in the middle of the year! So, why did Wage Works neglect to notify my insurance at the beginning of the year? Wage Works went through a computer system change in September, which must have been how my enrollment kicked in - after their system went back online. But, now I cannot get reimbursed for the previous 8 months of expenses! I have contacted Wage Works 4 more times and they always put me on hold, blame my insurance, employer and anyone else, and the last call they simply hung up on me! So, I tried to contact them via secure messaging and they replied back that I need to call them. So, I am done with them! I want to go above them now to either the OPM or another federal agency that oversees this for federal workers! Does anyone know of contact information for this? There has to be some agency that regulates or oversees what Wage Works does (or doesn't do)! I will never enroll with them again and I am telling anyone I can in the federal government - to NOT enroll!

You are not alone in experiencing problems with how WageWorks handles claims. They don’t provide any written explanation as to why a claim is rejected and make people jump fences to collect what is their own money. WageWorks would be wise to consider the reactions of Netflix, Bank America and Verizon customers and be much more concerned with making as it as easy as possible to collect on a claim, or face a similar backlash.

Since 2009, wageworks as steadily been increasing the verification of charges made to my account. All of the charges I have made have been for out of pocket expenses for medical and or dental charges not paid by my insurance company. On 5/27/2011 I spent over an hour trying to get assistance, because they said via email: YOUR CARD PRIVILEGES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED
Your Health Care Card privileges have been suspended because you have not submitted appropriate receipts or repayments for any card transactions with Receipt or Repayment Needed. You were notified of your need to submit receipts or repayment for card transactions either via email or postal mail. I have sent numerous faxes, as did the medical provider for these same expenses they said they never received. I have recently just spent the last 4 hours sending them via the internet ALL of the EOB's or forms from my insurance coverages showing all the information that wageworks required. Now its the beginning of Memorial weekend, and they froze my card. I have a prescription I need for pain for an illness I have, and I am out of pain medicine for this illness. When I tried to explain that to wageworks customer service, the supervisor felt it was more important for them to explain that the money on the account is really, "a loan from the company my husband works", stating it was, "a benefit of a loan". After explaining to him I needed to get prescriptions filled over the weekend, twice I was put on hold for over 15 minutes. The last time I was put on hold, the company actually closed the business and he left me on hold for over an hour...I only hung up to call back and it was too late, the company had closed for the weekend. I want to send a formal complaint to someone about the company, but there is noone available to take the complaint because their customer service does not have an outlet/form/protocal for complaints. They just say, "we never got the paperwork". I also wanted to complain about the abuse of unverified charges. How many times can they ask for verification per year. Most times it is always from the same provider or dental charges, then wageworks, just threatens you by saying, "if they don't the paperwork, then the IRS can come after the account holder (me)". I am sick of their abuse and threats and ignorance. They get people on the phone that laugh at you, they don't take you serious, they don't care about the people (account holders), they are irresponsible with legal medical documents. There is NO place to talk to anyone about the problems, because they simply do NOT CARE!

Wageworks doesn't keep your money, it get forfeited to your employer (after all, they fronted the money at the beginning of the year)
Also; submitting doctored invoices is tax fraud and the IRS will get you

If you have any complaints with Wageworks, you should contact the employer who sponsors the fsa plan. Wageworks is just acting as the claims administrator on behalf of the employer, the plan sponsor. Pursuant to strict Internal Revenue Code rules, you may not get reimbursed for any expenses incurred after your termination, unless you continue coverage through COBRA. If you still have a balance left in your health fsa at termination, then you should elect COBRA, which should be available until the end of the plan year. Under COBRA, you will be able to make contributions on an after-tax basis, in which case you should be able to get reimbursed for eligible expenses incurred while you are on COBRA. Note, your entire election amount for the plan year, less prior reimbursements, will be available to you while you are on COBRA. Once you incur enough eligible expenses to get reimbursed for the entire election amount, just stop your COBRA contributions.