Time to Flex That Flexible Spending Account

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HIPPA guidelines

When submitting your copies of prescription costs for FSA reimbursement from the pharmacy can you block out the name of the medication? If submitting this back to you HR department wouldn't that information fall under HIPPA guidelines? I started to fill this out for my husbands' FSA and it says they need to know the names of the medication? Why is that?

Health Insurance Premiums

I think the author may be mistaken about being reimbursed for health insurance premiums as long as you do not already pay them pre-tax. It is clearly listed in IRS publication 502 as a deductible expense.

fsa accounts

What happens when the FSA plan administrator abuses the audit of your expenses and freezes your account so you can't use your money?

Health care savings of prevention

A recent health-impact study by the Lewin Group suggests that the use of some dietary supplements could actually lower health care expenditures.

http://jmorrow50.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/dietary-supplement-use-reduces-health-care-expenditures/

IRS - Who else?

According to an article I found in 2003 President George Bush supported allowing employees to roll-over their funds. Below is a section of the same article: HR 3105, a measure introduced

by Rep. Edward Royce (R-CA), which would permit

employees to carry-over their unused flexible

spending account funds for future use. This would

encourage more employees to participate, as well

as allow workers to save for future medical expenses

including COBRA and retirement expenses. We

encourage you to ask your member of Congress to

co-sponsor HR 3105, and to ask your Senators, the

U.S. Treasury Department and the President to support

the carry-over of flexible spending account funds.

The Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC)

provides letter templates to this end for your convenience

at www.ecfc.org/action_alert/options.htm. Simply scroll

down the page and follow the instructions.

Visiting an Osteopath, chiropractor or acupuncturist can go a long way towards improving the balance of your hard and soft tissues (bone & muscles & fascia, etc...) Most people are unaware that a lot of pain (neck, lower back, shoulder blades, knees, hips, ankles, feet...) is caused by your body not being in balance. More info here - http://healthhabits.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/structural-balance/

Question the structure

What nincompoop ever dreamed up the idea of "use it or lose it" with respect to spending for anything? In a FSA? In a government budget process? Or anywhere. The whole idea is a false urgency for a dumb reason.