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| Science Forum Index » Medicine - Transcription Forum » Flex spending account... |
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| Marsha... |
 Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:14 pm |
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| bob... |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:49 pm |
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In article <hckmnd$3r3$1 at (no spam) news.datemas.de>, mas at (no spam) xeb.net says...
[quote]
If you have one of these, you may be interested in this article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091101/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_overhaul_flexible_spending
Marsha
[/quote]
Yes, I've read about it and am NOT pleased at all.
"Over utilization of health care". What do they think people are going
to do, go out and buy 2 tons of aspirin because they over budgeted their
account? Those with chronic illnesses can often figure out their
expenses pretty accurately and aren't likely to put aside too much
because they are already spending a huge chunk of their pay on health
care costs as it is.
I can see where parents with young kids might have trouble accurately
predicting what their expenses will be. One of my granddaughters lost
her brand new eye glasses less than two weeks after she got them. Her
parent's vision plan only covers one pair a year, so now my daughter and
her husband have an unexpected multi-hundred dollar expense.
Bob/Texas |
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| The Other Kim... |
| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:50 pm |
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Marsha wrote:
[quote]If you have one of these, you may be interested in this article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091101/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_overhaul_flexible_spending
[/quote]
That cap won't affect us much. We can estimate our known expenses
fairly well most years, although this year we had some unanticipated
expenses; all the visits for my newly discovered hypertension and lung
issues, my husband's Achilles tendon surgery, eyeglasses for my two
children who had never had them before. Still, I have to wonder about
that "overuse of medical care." There probably are people out there who
insist on unnecessary tests and procedures, but I'm sure most people
don't want to have anything that they deem to be unnecessary done to
them. Heck, before I saw the lung specialist about my CT scan results
my doctor was talking about a possible open lung biopsy, which I was
going to refuse because I'm completely asymptomatic; the pulmonologist
agreed with me that invasive testing isn't necessary, and we'll just get
another CT in six months to see if there's been any progression.
I think capping it at $2500 is ridiculous, even if the "average"
arrangement is for less than $1400. There are people whose medical
conditions are more costly to them, and being able to set this money
aside is a good thing.
The Other Kim
kimmeratsoylentgreenfielddotcom |
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| Judity... |
| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:54 am |
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How do those accounts work?
Is it in addition to health insurance offered by employers, or is it
for people who are self employed or have no other form of health
insurance?
Judity |
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| bob... |
| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:21 pm |
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In article <30f85358-4fac-4bce-87f6-
55421b6a120e at (no spam) y32g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, Judity01 at (no spam) aol.com says...
[quote]
How do those accounts work?
Is it in addition to health insurance offered by employers, or is it
for people who are self employed or have no other form of health
insurance?
Judity
[/quote]
Judity,
These accounts allow the employee to use pre-tax dollars to pay for
qualifying health expenses for themselves and their dependents over the
course of the calendar year. The feds decide what expenses are
qualified. but generally include all insurance co-pays, including
prescription, office visit, and hospital co-pays. Some non-prescription
medications are included such as aspirin and other things. Prescription
eyeglasses and contacts are included.
Because you use pre-tax dollars, you don't pay income taxes on your
income used to pay those bills.
From the employer side, the employer gets to specify a maximum per
employee annual dollar amount, up to the maximum specified by the feds.
When an employee signs up for the program, the employee specifies how
much of their annual pay they want to set aside for the program, up to
the maximum amount. The employer then gives the employee an up-front
interest free loan of that amount and the employee pays it back by
having a fixed amount deducted from each paycheck. The employee doesn't
actually get cash. The employer or their insurance carrier sets up an
account for the employee and credits it with specified amount.
Here's a simplified example. Let's say I get paid once a month and
determine that I will spend $1,200 on prescription co-pays, doctor
office co-pays, etc. So I tell my employer I want to have $1,200 put
into my account at the beginning of the year. The employer sets up an
account and credits it with $1,200. Every payday, my employer will then
deduct $100 on a pre-tax basis as payment on the loan. When I have a
qualifying expense, such as paying for a prescription, I pay the
pharmacy my co-pay as usual. I then fill out a form and attach a copy of
the prescription bill and send it in to my employer's insurance company.
They verify that I have enough money in my account to cover the bill and
that it is a qualified expense and send me a check for my co-pay.
If I don't have enough, they send me a letter saying, "Sorry, but you've
used up all your money." After the year is over, you have 3 months to
send in claim forms for any qualifying expenses for the year. If you
have any money left in your account after they've paid all the claims,
the company gets to keep it to help defray the costs of running the
program. So it's a "use it or lose it" program. I think effective for
2009, you can actually use some expenses from early 2010 if you have
funds left over in your account.
There are several variations on this, but that's how it works in
general.
HTH,
Bob/Texas |
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| Barbara Carlson... |
| Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:41 am |
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Oh, my gosh, more paperwork for everyone!
Barb C.
"bob" <nottooslow42 at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.255ea3b610007c129896e3 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
[quote]In article <30f85358-4fac-4bce-87f6-
55421b6a120e at (no spam) y32g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, Judity01 at (no spam) aol.com says...
How do those accounts work?
Is it in addition to health insurance offered by employers, or is it
for people who are self employed or have no other form of health
insurance?
Judity
Judity,
These accounts allow the employee to use pre-tax dollars to pay for
qualifying health expenses for themselves and their dependents over the
course of the calendar year. The feds decide what expenses are
qualified. but generally include all insurance co-pays, including
prescription, office visit, and hospital co-pays. Some non-prescription
medications are included such as aspirin and other things. Prescription
eyeglasses and contacts are included.
Because you use pre-tax dollars, you don't pay income taxes on your
income used to pay those bills.
From the employer side, the employer gets to specify a maximum per
employee annual dollar amount, up to the maximum specified by the feds.
When an employee signs up for the program, the employee specifies how
much of their annual pay they want to set aside for the program, up to
the maximum amount. The employer then gives the employee an up-front
interest free loan of that amount and the employee pays it back by
having a fixed amount deducted from each paycheck. The employee doesn't
actually get cash. The employer or their insurance carrier sets up an
account for the employee and credits it with specified amount.
Here's a simplified example. Let's say I get paid once a month and
determine that I will spend $1,200 on prescription co-pays, doctor
office co-pays, etc. So I tell my employer I want to have $1,200 put
into my account at the beginning of the year. The employer sets up an
account and credits it with $1,200. Every payday, my employer will then
deduct $100 on a pre-tax basis as payment on the loan. When I have a
qualifying expense, such as paying for a prescription, I pay the
pharmacy my co-pay as usual. I then fill out a form and attach a copy of
the prescription bill and send it in to my employer's insurance company.
They verify that I have enough money in my account to cover the bill and
that it is a qualified expense and send me a check for my co-pay.
If I don't have enough, they send me a letter saying, "Sorry, but you've
used up all your money." After the year is over, you have 3 months to
send in claim forms for any qualifying expenses for the year. If you
have any money left in your account after they've paid all the claims,
the company gets to keep it to help defray the costs of running the
program. So it's a "use it or lose it" program. I think effective for
2009, you can actually use some expenses from early 2010 if you have
funds left over in your account.
There are several variations on this, but that's how it works in
general.
HTH,
Bob/Texas
[/quote] |
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| The Other Kim... |
| Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:56 pm |
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Not really. My husband's employer includes the FSA stuff with the
regular benefits information when open enrollment time comes around so
when we tell them to keep our current medical coverage we also fill in
that bit. Then when it's time to get reimbursed he fills out one form
and faxes it and the EOBs to Aetna, and the money gets deposited in our
account.
The Other Kim
kimmeratsoylentgreenfielddotcom
"Barbara Carlson" <bbcarlson at (no spam) snappydsl.net> wrote in message
news:NbWdnezXyau3C2jXnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d at (no spam) tampabaydsl.com...
[quote]Oh, my gosh, more paperwork for everyone!
Barb C.
"bob" <nottooslow42 at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.255ea3b610007c129896e3 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
In article <30f85358-4fac-4bce-87f6-
55421b6a120e at (no spam) y32g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, Judity01 at (no spam) aol.com says...
How do those accounts work?
Is it in addition to health insurance offered by employers, or is it
for people who are self employed or have no other form of health
insurance?
Judity
Judity,
These accounts allow the employee to use pre-tax dollars to pay for
qualifying health expenses for themselves and their dependents over
the
course of the calendar year. The feds decide what expenses are
qualified. but generally include all insurance co-pays, including
prescription, office visit, and hospital co-pays. Some
non-prescription
medications are included such as aspirin and other things.
Prescription
eyeglasses and contacts are included.
Because you use pre-tax dollars, you don't pay income taxes on your
income used to pay those bills.
From the employer side, the employer gets to specify a maximum per
employee annual dollar amount, up to the maximum specified by the
feds.
When an employee signs up for the program, the employee specifies how
much of their annual pay they want to set aside for the program, up
to
the maximum amount. The employer then gives the employee an up-front
interest free loan of that amount and the employee pays it back by
having a fixed amount deducted from each paycheck. The employee
doesn't
actually get cash. The employer or their insurance carrier sets up an
account for the employee and credits it with specified amount.
Here's a simplified example. Let's say I get paid once a month and
determine that I will spend $1,200 on prescription co-pays, doctor
office co-pays, etc. So I tell my employer I want to have $1,200 put
into my account at the beginning of the year. The employer sets up an
account and credits it with $1,200. Every payday, my employer will
then
deduct $100 on a pre-tax basis as payment on the loan. When I have a
qualifying expense, such as paying for a prescription, I pay the
pharmacy my co-pay as usual. I then fill out a form and attach a copy
of
the prescription bill and send it in to my employer's insurance
company.
They verify that I have enough money in my account to cover the bill
and
that it is a qualified expense and send me a check for my co-pay.
If I don't have enough, they send me a letter saying, "Sorry, but
you've
used up all your money." After the year is over, you have 3 months to
send in claim forms for any qualifying expenses for the year. If you
have any money left in your account after they've paid all the
claims,
the company gets to keep it to help defray the costs of running the
program. So it's a "use it or lose it" program. I think effective for
2009, you can actually use some expenses from early 2010 if you have
funds left over in your account.
There are several variations on this, but that's how it works in
general.
HTH,
Bob/Texas
[/quote] |
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| bob... |
| Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:19 pm |
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In article <NbWdnezXyau3C2jXnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d at (no spam) tampabaydsl.com>,
bbcarlson at (no spam) snappydsl.net says...
[quote]
Oh, my gosh, more paperwork for everyone!
Barb C.
[/quote]
Barb,
Not necessarily. Computers can do amazing things:-) What I described was
the basic theory of how it works. However, many employers, like mine,
give their employees who participate in the plan a "credit card" to use
for their FSA qualified purchases. Most major drug stores and
supermarkets have their computer systems programmed to flag FSA eligible
purchases. So when I go to say, Walgreen s and my items include one or
more prescriptions and some non-FSA qualified purchases, I slide my FSA
card through the checkout machine like I would a debit or credit card,
the checkout system recognizes the card and charges the card for my
prescription co-pay, gets authorization for the transaction from the
card issuer, then prompts me to use another card or pay cash, for the
rest of my items. Walgreen s then sends my FSA transaction to my
insurance company with a flag saying I paid for it with my FSA card, the
insurance company's computers then verify that the FSA items are indeed
valid FSA items, I'm done. No paperwork to fill out for anyone.
The only time I've had any issues, and everyone seems to get hit with
this, is when I use my FSA card for vision care. The POS transaction is
accepted, but a month or so later, I get a letter in the mail saying I
need to document the expense. I simply send in a copy of my invoice from
the vision care provider and that's the end of it. Everyone I've talked
to at two different employers has had to go this route.
HTH,
Bob/Texas |
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| Bob Rahe... |
| Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 2:53 pm |
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Guest
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bob wrote:
[quote]In article <NbWdnezXyau3C2jXnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d at (no spam) tampabaydsl.com>,
bbcarlson at (no spam) snappydsl.net says...
Oh, my gosh, more paperwork for everyone!
Barb C.
Barb,
Not necessarily. Computers can do amazing things:-) What I described was
the basic theory of how it works. However, many employers, like mine,
give their employees who participate in the plan a "credit card" to use
for their FSA qualified purchases. Most major drug stores and
[/quote]
But... there may be a catch... at least for ours there is a $12 charge
for that card. (Called a "Benny Card", I kid u not!) |
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| bob... |
| Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:07 pm |
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In article <Wq_Jm.9866$%j4.7913 at (no spam) newsfe18.iad>, bob at (no spam) hobbes.dtcc.edu
says...
[quote]
bob wrote:
In article <NbWdnezXyau3C2jXnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d at (no spam) tampabaydsl.com>,
bbcarlson at (no spam) snappydsl.net says...
Oh, my gosh, more paperwork for everyone!
Barb C.
Barb,
Not necessarily. Computers can do amazing things:-) What I described was
the basic theory of how it works. However, many employers, like mine,
give their employees who participate in the plan a "credit card" to use
for their FSA qualified purchases. Most major drug stores and
But... there may be a catch... at least for ours there is a $12 charge
for that card. (Called a "Benny Card", I kid u not!)
[/quote]
Bob,
If there was a charge for mine, I'd tell them to keep it and let them
keep processing all my paperwork. They are simply being greedy. It saves
them money to process those transactions electronically. Is your
employer a large employer; say with > 1,000 employees?
Bob/Texas |
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| Bob Rahe... |
| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:34 am |
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bob wrote:
[quote]But... there may be a catch... at least for ours there is a $12 charge
for that card. (Called a "Benny Card", I kid u not!)
Bob,
If there was a charge for mine, I'd tell them to keep it and let them
keep processing all my paperwork. They are simply being greedy. It saves
them money to process those transactions electronically. Is your
employer a large employer; say with > 1,000 employees?
[/quote]
Ummmm, yeah, the State of Delaware.... We're small but >1000 of
us...  |
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| bob... |
| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:59 pm |
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In article <GCgKm.7820$Xf2.6568 at (no spam) newsfe12.iad>, bob at (no spam) hobbes.dtcc.edu
says...
[quote]
bob wrote:
But... there may be a catch... at least for ours there is a $12 charge
for that card. (Called a "Benny Card", I kid u not!)
Bob,
If there was a charge for mine, I'd tell them to keep it and let them
keep processing all my paperwork. They are simply being greedy. It saves
them money to process those transactions electronically. Is your
employer a large employer; say with > 1,000 employees?
Ummmm, yeah, the State of Delaware.... We're small but >1000 of
us...
[/quote]
Bob,
:-)
I was asking because my previous employer had > 100,000 employees and my
current employer has > 1,000 employees and neither charge a fee for the
FSA debit card.
It seems that State governments always screw their employees:-(
I know that some State no longer issue checks or do direct deposit for
unemployment benefits and instead issue a debit card that has a fee
attached to it. I've read of people that immediately get cash for their
debit card and deposit it into their regular banking accounts to avoid
all the fees associated with those cards.
Bob/Texas |
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