Ideas to use up my healthcare FSA

[LisaNJ25]

good luck!! I am doing $1500 for 2011 and it will be gone by the second week of January. I will I still had money left from this year.

 

[Nancy]

bloodwork

prescriptions
vitamins

no vitamins..those are only allowed with a letter of medical necessity because they are considered for general health not medically needed.

 

[jyssilly]

Glasses or contacts?
Bulk over the counter meds - Costco is good for that because they actually total your FSA-eligible stuff at the bottom of your receipt.

Also, depending on your FSA, you can submit receipts up until March 2011 - at least with ours, that's the way it works.

 

[figment52]

bloodwork

prescriptions
vitamins

vitamins are not covered with FSA's

 

[SandrA9810]

Mine allowed the 3 month allowance too.

If you really want to use up the money, you can get oakley sunglasses. Top of the line, and still fall under FSA rules. Now they do have two lines, a prescription line and a sunglass line, they're almost identical, but have different coding for processing with insurance. The frames, the tinting, and the coatings can add up to a hefty cost fast. Mine were over 200$ with basic insurance.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Dang, am I the only one that ever goes over? I did $4000 in 2010 and will have over $2000 still out of pocket. I used that $4k up in October.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Wow.... I'm not even putting money into an FSA next year since OTC meds won't be covered.

I'm surprised that different plans have different restrictions. All thought they were all the same.

 

[mill4023]

Thanks for all the ideas.
I guess we were just too healthy this year.

I didn't really pay much attention to it until last week, when I checked and was surprised that we had only used up $500 of the $1800 we had put in.

I will double check, but I'm pretty sure that we only have until Dec 31 to use everything. I know that we have until March to file claims, but I think the date of the expense needs to be this year.

 

[BunsenH]

Can you buy eligible OTC meds and donate them to a clinic/shelter?

 

[laurie31]

Wow.... I'm not even putting money into an FSA next year since OTC meds won't be covered.

I'm surprised that different plans have different restrictions. All thought they were all the same.

Wow, you are so lucky to have good vision. We spend about $600/year OVER what our insurance pays for eye exams and contacts. This year I spent way more than that, because insurance only pays for glasses OR contacts, not both, but the girls' glasses were so old they weren't good for back-up any more, so I had to pay for the glasses outright.

And let's not even talk about dental! My DDs have enamel defects, so even with good hygiene, they still get cavities.

We put $4500 in our HSA and $2000 in the FSA and it's ALL gone.

 

[KadysMom]

I had used up the rest of my FSA on items I will need for next year. Since I cannot use it for OTC meds for 2011, I bought tylenol, cold medicine, sinus medicine, bandaids, all those kinds of things and just made sure the expiration dates were atleast november 2011.

Then DH used prevacid and i bought him enough through next year. You could also buy some of those OTC items and donate to a shelter or family relief center in your town. I bet they could come in handy for some families. Definately dont let it go, use it for something!

 

[tar heel]

We have until March something to use ours up and May to file claims. Not a problem this year since it's been gone since August. I would check and make sure you have to use it by December 31.

If we needed to use up FSA money, I would order prescriptions as far ahead as they would let me, stock up on any over the counter drugs I was short on, get new glasses, stock up on my son's contacts or get a crown done.

 

[mill4023]

You were all correct. We don't have to spend it by the end of the year.
I just checked with our HR rep and the deadline for incurring expenses and for filing claims is March 15th. I guess I was thinking back to when I had a HCRA account and the expenses had to be incurred during the calendar year of the contributions, but you had until March to submit claims.

So we'll definitely be making some appointments in January for dental work, eye exams, and new glasses.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Wow, you are so lucky to have good vision. We spend about $600/year OVER what our insurance pays for eye exams and contacts. This year I spent way more than that, because insurance only pays for glasses OR contacts, not both, but the girls' glasses were so old they weren't good for back-up any more, so I had to pay for the glasses outright.

And let's not even talk about dental! My DDs have enamel defects, so even with good hygiene, they still get cavities.

We put $4500 in our HSA and $2000 in the FSA and it's ALL gone.

No, I'm lucky to have good health insurance that covers vision I've had lousy vision since 4th grade! Mine also only pays for glasses or contacts, but I could never wear contacts.

Hopefully my dental bad luck is over. I spent a boatload on dental work a year or so ago.... the vision benefit is great, but the dental is lousy. But at this point, I'd rather pay OOP than put the money into an FSA and lose it. If you're not anticipating problems, I get nervous putting a lot of money into them. I'd rather put the money aside myself and lose the tax break than lose the money altogether.

FSAs can be somewhat of a crapshoot. What if you put $100 aside from each paycheck knowing that in October you were going to schedule dental work? If you lose your job in June, you also lose your FSA money.

BTW... I'm single with no kids, so that cuts down a lot of need as well.

 

[wnissen]

I would highly recommend some sessions with a therapist. They aren't just there for helping you get over bad times, they can also help you focus on what's important in your life.