Creative ways to spend my Medical flex account $

[kittenblue]

The best benefit to having an FSA, Kalhoun, is that if you have a smaller income and no credit (like me) you don’t have to delay treatment while you save up for things like new glasses. The full amount of your contribution is credited to your account at the beginning of the fiscal year, so you could spend it all right then if you needed to. One January I bought my new glasses (over $300, even with my employee discount) and had several copays for doctor’s visits and several prescriptions, all in the first few weeks of the new fiscal year…it was a bad year, healthwise. But since I already had the money in my account, I didn’t have to wait until payday, or scrimp somewhere else, or borrow the money.

This year, I forgot to sign up for the FSA and I’m pretty well screwed for new glasses for a few months until I can save up. And if I need to go to the doctor, I’d better need to go right after a payday. I will never forget to read the fine print again. And good thing I just saw the dentist in December, which is one of the things I did to spend the last of my last year’s FSA.

[PunditLisa]

Maeglin, I like the way you think.

Dr.Deth, the Mr. and I have already gotten Lasik. That would have been FSA 2003 and 2004. And, of course, we had the procedure done in January so we get an interest free loan on the money until it’s deducted from my husband’s paycheck.

I do see that Prilosec is on the list for $25. My mom has to use that, so I may get (sigh) 40 boxes of that. Happy Mother’s Day!!

[HelloKitty]

@romansperson

Are you sure you can buy stuff now and use last year’s money to pay for it?

The way my flexible spending account works is by calendar year - they give you until 3/31 of the following year to present receipts for eligible stuff you bought in the previous calendar year. If yours works like mine, then anything you buy now would not be eligible - only stuff you purchased from 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2006.

I’d do what ethelbert suggests - go to your drugstore and get a printout of all the Rxs you purchased in 2006 and submit that total for reimbursement.

Pundit Lisa, I’m quoting this post again because I really think you should check the fine print on your husband’s account before you go out and try to spend $1000 now. If it isn’t already spent then it’s already lost.

I have one of these accounts also and while I have until 03-31-07 to claim any reimbursements, the purchase has to have been made by 12-31-06.

So if I was to go out now and buy a bunch of stuff it wouldn’t be eligible for reimbursement.

You might also want to check to make sure whether he is signed up for the account again this year–it might still be coming out of his check and there is no way to cancel it except for when his company has open insurance enrollment every year.

[Alpine]

At the end of last year, I bought some really sweet first aid kits from drugstore.com for our cars. You can spend a lot on kits if you need to.

[PunditLisa]

[QUOTE=HelloKitty]
Pundit Lisa, I’m quoting this post again because I really think you should check the fine print on your husband’s account before you go out and try to spend $1000 now. If it isn’t already spent then it’s already lost./QUOTE]

Nope, the benefit year, including FSA, runs from 4/1/06 to 3/31/07. It says so right in the letter. I have until 6/30 to file claims on benefits through 3/31/06. Goofy, but true.

[gigi]

@kittenblue

But since I already had the money in my account, I didn’t have to wait until payday, or scrimp somewhere else, or borrow the money.

Isn’t there a delay, though, since you have to submit the receipts and get reimbursed?

[Loach]

@Kalhoun

Aaaahhhh…that makes sense. We spend so little on medical care that it really wouldn’t be worth it. I bet we don’t spend $500 in a year. But it’s good to know we can defer if we need to!

Yep probably not for you. Unless that $500 is guaranteed then you could set aside that. I’ve been stupid and I have not used this before. I’ll start during the next enrollment. We are a family of 5. No serious chronic medical conditions. We put out close to $3000 out of pocket last year. $4000 the year before.

[romansperson]

@gigi

Isn’t there a delay, though, since you have to submit the receipts and get reimbursed?

My plan has a debit card (which is optional, since it costs $5 to set up) - I just swipe that and the money comes directly out of the account, no waiting.

[kittenblue]

@gigi

Isn’t there a delay, though, since you have to submit the receipts and get reimbursed?

I have the debit card feature, too, but mine is free. I use it just like a credit card, and occassionally they ask me for receipts. The annoying thing is the number of doctor’s offices that don’t accept credit card payments…then I have to pay and get reimbursed, or just send (fax) the bill in to the FSA and they pay directly to the provider. New problem for this year is that many locations like WalMart won’t be accepting FSA cards due to some IRS regulation, though the FSA company was hoping there would be a change soon.

I thought, since my healthcare insurance paperwork said…“If you’re not making any changes, you don’t have to send back anything…everything rolls over for next year” that that included the FSA, so I did…nothing. The FSA, however, requires that you re-sign up every year. Fine print, and inattention. So no FSA this year for me. Stupid Kittenblue.

[gigi]

Our employer provides a benefit of medical reimbursement of $250 for non-exempt folks. That was nice; paid for prescriptions and new contacts. Now I am too lazy to go through the withholding and reimbursement process, since as far as I know we don’t have the handy debit card option.

[Moirai]

@PunditLisa

FYI, both my husband and I have already gotten our eyes lasered.

Hee hee hee- that’s what I spent mine on in 2006!

I love my 125 plan- it covers not only medical care and prescriptions, but dependent care up to $2500 per year as well! A big shock with having kids is the medical bills…