Benefits enrollment
Oct. 31st, 2005 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisOpen enrollment has for 2006 has started at my workplace so I'm looking over the benefits which must be manually renewed, as opposed to those which automatically renew. One of the manual renewals is the amount of money to put into a medical savings account (MSA).
For the uninitiated, an MSA is a sum of pre-tax money shaved off one's paycheck which can then be used for miscellaneous expenses which aren't already covered by one's medical insurance plans (if any). I use mine for, say, co-payments on prescriptions and visits to my doctor. The downside is that any money left over in the MSA at the end of the year is forfeited to the plan provider: you had better have a very good idea of what expenses will be coming in the coming year or the tax benefit is completely lost.
At this point last year, neither my optometrist nor my dentist were participants in my office plans so I paid for them out-of-pocket, was reimbursed partially for using an out-of-network office by my medical plan and used the MSA to pay off the balance. Earlier this year, however, both my dentist and optometrist joined my plans. Instead of requiring $1300 for out-of-pocket expenses, I need only about $700. I'm now looking for places I can spend $600 on medical/dental/optical purchases by December 31 so I don't forfeit the balance.
Looking at the detailed rules of what is and is not a suitable use of my MSA, I'm struck by the inconsistency. Viagara is a legitimate expense, but Rogaine is not. Christian Science practitioners are covered, herbalists are not. Smoking cessation is covered, vitamins are not.
Basically, if it is elective and/or not on a prescription, it isn't covered, but even some items which are prescriptions would be rejected unless carefully worded & documented. Things which either help you reproduce or intentionally prevent reproduction are explicitly covered. Things which merely keep you healthy may or not be covered.
I'm sure there's a pattern in here somewhere, but it evades me still.
In any case, I may be ordering a lot of disposable contact lenses and lens solution in the next while to burn up my remaining funds. I wish I could blow this money on someone else --say, someone else's prescription-- but the rules forbid it and I can't find an elegant interpretation around them (yet).
For the uninitiated, an MSA is a sum of pre-tax money shaved off one's paycheck which can then be used for miscellaneous expenses which aren't already covered by one's medical insurance plans (if any). I use mine for, say, co-payments on prescriptions and visits to my doctor. The downside is that any money left over in the MSA at the end of the year is forfeited to the plan provider: you had better have a very good idea of what expenses will be coming in the coming year or the tax benefit is completely lost.
At this point last year, neither my optometrist nor my dentist were participants in my office plans so I paid for them out-of-pocket, was reimbursed partially for using an out-of-network office by my medical plan and used the MSA to pay off the balance. Earlier this year, however, both my dentist and optometrist joined my plans. Instead of requiring $1300 for out-of-pocket expenses, I need only about $700. I'm now looking for places I can spend $600 on medical/dental/optical purchases by December 31 so I don't forfeit the balance.
Looking at the detailed rules of what is and is not a suitable use of my MSA, I'm struck by the inconsistency. Viagara is a legitimate expense, but Rogaine is not. Christian Science practitioners are covered, herbalists are not. Smoking cessation is covered, vitamins are not.
Basically, if it is elective and/or not on a prescription, it isn't covered, but even some items which are prescriptions would be rejected unless carefully worded & documented. Things which either help you reproduce or intentionally prevent reproduction are explicitly covered. Things which merely keep you healthy may or not be covered.
I'm sure there's a pattern in here somewhere, but it evades me still.
In any case, I may be ordering a lot of disposable contact lenses and lens solution in the next while to burn up my remaining funds. I wish I could blow this money on someone else --say, someone else's prescription-- but the rules forbid it and I can't find an elegant interpretation around them (yet).
