Employee FAQs

Your San Francisco Medical Reimbursement Account (SF MRA) is a benefit within the SF City Option program. Funds in an SF MRA come from a past or current employer.

Funds can be used to reimburse you, your spouse or domestic partner, and your dependents for eligible health care expenses.

You can still use your SF MRA funds even if you no longer work for the employer who made the deposits. SF MRA funds are available to spend if your account is active.

Check to see if you have funds in an existing SF MRA.

Use the SF MRA Funds Finder to see if you have an existing SF MRA.

You may qualify for an SF MRA if your current or past employer made payment to SF City Option on your behalf. Use the SF MRA Funds Finder to see if you have funds available for an SF MRA.

First, check the Funds Finder to confirm that you have funds available in an SF MRA. If you have funds, the next step is to enroll in the benefit program by completing an SF MRA Enrollment Form. After we receive your enrollment form, SF City Option will review your information and will contact you within 3 weeks to provide information on how to access your SF MRA funds.

Your SF MRA funds are available to spend, in the form of reimbursement, if your account is active. To keep your account active, you must submit at least one SF MRA claim every 36 months.

If there are no claims or employer deposits in over 36 months, your account will close, and you will not be able to use the SF MRA funds.

You can still use your SF MRA after you stop working for an employer who made the deposits.

The San Francisco Health Commission approved a policy in January 2022 to permanently close employee accounts that have not been used for a 3-year consecutive period. Any funds in those account will also be permanently reverted to the City and County of San Francisco. This policy is consistent with existing state law (Government Code 50050).

The policy is effective March 1, 2023. That means the SF City Option program will begin tracking accounts that have had no activity for a three-year consecutive period beginning March 1, 2023, and beyond. The earliest any accounts could potentially be permanently closed is April 2026.

There is a $3.15 administrative fee subtracted from the available funds in each SF MRA monthly, whether or not you use the account that month. Administrative fees will not be subtracted from the account if the available balance is less than $3.15.

In San Francisco, local laws require many employers to provide health benefits for eligible employees. San Francisco City Option (SF City Option) is a health benefit program that employers choose for workers, in order to meet this requirement. Your San Francisco Medical Reimbursement Account (SF MRA) is the benefit provided to you within the SF City Option program.

If you have an SF MRA, it means that one or more of your employers, since 2008, deposited funds into SF City Option on your behalf, as a way to comply with the law.

• Confirm that you worked at least 8 hours per week in San Francisco, and for the employer for at least 90 days.
• Confirm that you worked in the geographic boundaries of San Francisco (Fort Mason and The Presidio are on federal land and are not considered part of the City and County of San Francisco).
• Confirm that you worked for the company for at least 90 days.
• Confirm that your employer had 20 or more employees (globally), with at least one employee working in San Francisco.
• Contact your employer to find out what health benefits they provided to you when you were an employee.
• If you met the above criteria and there were no health benefits provided, you can reach out to the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement to inquire about filing a complaint about the company if the violation occurred within the last 3 years.
• Confirm that you were not a government employee, or worked for a City contractor.

Check the SF MRA Funds Finder to see if you have existing funds in an SF MRA.

Yes, health insurance premiums, co-payments, health care payments, and deductibles are among the many health care expenses eligible for reimbursement from SF MRAs.

Funds in your SF MRA can be used to reimburse you, your spouse or domestic partner, and your dependents for eligible health care expenses.

A dependent is a child or relative who lives with you for more than half the year and receives more than half of their financial support from you.

Dependents may include full-time students ages 19 through 26 and children over age 19 who are permanently disabled.

A relative must receive more than half of their financial support from you and not be your child or the child of any other taxpayer to qualify as a dependent.

To view a detailed list of health care expenses eligible for reimbursement under the SF MRA, visit SF MRA Eligible Expenses page. Doctor’s office visits, co-pays, health insurance premiums, eyeglasses, and contact lenses, and prescription and over-the-counter medicines are among the many expenses eligible for reimbursement.

The information you entered in the SF MRA Funds Finder search did not match any records in our system. This could be because you are not eligible for an SF MRA.

The information you entered on the enrollment form did not match any records in our system. This could be because you are not eligible for an SF MRA.

Not everyone is eligible for an SF MRA. You are not eligible if:

• You did not work in San Francisco since 2008.
• You are not covered under San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance because you did not work in San Francisco for at least 90 days and did not work at least 8 hours per week.
• You are not covered under San Francisco’s Healthy Airport Ordinance.
• An employer provided you with another health benefit, such as health insurance or payments into a different reimbursement account.
• A different name, date of birth, or social security number was provided to us by your employer.
• You are a public employee, employed by the City or County of San Francisco, UCSF, the Federal Government, Cal State University, etc. Public employees are not covered under the Health Care Security Ordinance.

The information you entered in the SF MRA Funds Finder might be a match with a record in our system, but either your name, date of birth, or social security number are different.

To determine if you are a match and are qualified for an SF MRA, we need additional information such as your address, phone number, and the name of your employer(s).

To provide us with this information, please fill out an enrollment form.

The information you entered on your enrollment form might be a match to a record in our system. However, due to missing or incorrect information, we were not able to enroll you in the SF MRA benefit.

Please contact SF City Option customer service for more information. You can call us at 1(877) 772-0415 or you can email us at info@sfcityoption.org.

For information on how to access your SF MRA funds, visit the Enroll in SF MRA page.

Contact HealthEquity/WageWorks at 1(866) 697-6078 for help.

Funds will be available in your SF MRA 1-3 weeks after each employer payment to our program.

You can still use your SF MRA after you no longer work for the employer who made the deposits. SF MRA funds are available to spend as long as your account is active. Keep your account active by filing at least one SF MRA claim every 36 months.

Our program will close the SF MRA and you will not be able to spend the SF MRA funds if there have been no claims or deposits in over 36 months.

Please call HealthEquity/WageWorks, our partner who maintains the accounts, at 1(866) 697-6078 for your account balance. You may also check your account balance online at participant.wageworks.com/sfmra.

You can manage this information online at participant.wageworks.com/sfmra or contact SF City Option at 1(877) 772-0415 or info@sfcityoption.org to find out more.

HealthEquity/WageWorks Customer Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer your specific questions about Medical Reimbursement Accounts. Please call HealthEquity/WageWorks Customer Service at 1(866) 697-6078.

Yes, you can still access your SF MRA account and submit claims for eligible expenses, even if you move out of state or to another country. Be sure to update your address in your Health Equity/WageWorks account. When you submit your claim to HealthEquity/WageWorks, your claim documentation and proof of payment must be in English, and the claim amount should be in dollars. If you have a bank account in the US, Health Equity/WageWorks can reimburse you by direct deposit or by a check sent to your current address.

SF MRA funds may be available after a participant’s death. SF MRA funds are also available for a spouse or domestic partner and dependents up to 24 months after the date of the account holder’s death.

An executor or legally authorized representative can submit claims for eligible expenses up to the date of the account holder’s death. Information needed for this process deceased would include:

• Date of account holder’s death
• Name of the authorized representative
• Relationship to the deceased
• Authorized representative’s address
• Authorized representative’s phone number
• One of the following: a Letter of Testamentary naming the executor, a copy of the court order appointing the administrator. OR, if no court-appointed representative exists, a completed Authorized Representative Declaration Form is needed.

You may submit receipts and claim forms online or by mail, fax, or mobile app and get reimbursed by check or direct deposit. For detailed information, please visit the Enroll in SF MRA page.

Only health care expenses incurred on or after the effective date of your SF MRA are eligible for reimbursement. Your SF MRA effective date is the date an employer’s first payment for you clears in our system.

Claims are usually processed within 3 to 5 business days after claim submission.

If you submit a claim that is greater than the balance of your account, the claim is paid up to the available balance.

No, you may submit a claim for as little as $0.01 and can still get reimbursed by check or direct deposit for the claim.

No, you may be reimbursed by check or direct deposit for as little as $0.01.

No, you can send as many claims as you need. You receive reimbursement up to the available account balance.

No, you can only use your SF MRA funds by sending claims for reimbursement of eligible health care expenses.

Your employer should have sent a Health Care Payment Confirmation Notice to you after the first payment on your behalf. Our program also sends information to you by mail within 1-3 weeks of your employer’s first payment.

If you have questions about whether your employer has made a payment to the SF City Option Program, please contact your employer or contact SF City Option at info@sfcityoption.org to find out more.

If you feel that you should be receiving some type of health benefit (health insurance, City Option benefit, or other benefit) please reach out to the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement at 1(415) 554-7892 or by email at HCSO@sfgov.org.

Use the SF MRA Funds Finder to see if you have an SF MRA.

Yes, you can still use the funds in your SF MRA after you no longer work for the employer who made the SF MRA deposits.