Flexible Spending Accounts:
No Appointment Necessary
Aired on Superstation WGN
Saturday, September 3 and December 10, 2005
Show 223
Dr. Lisa Thornton:
Does your employer offer flexible spending accounts? Here's some good news if they do.
Jeff Robertson, PharmD
A flexible spending account, FSA for short, allows you to take pre-tax dollars from your paycheck and deposit them into an account. You can use the FSA account to pay for out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses.
About 12 percent of people eligible for FSAs actually have one. But now, more people maybe enrolling because of a change in how you can use the account. Before the rule changed, you had to use or loose your FSA account by the end of the year. That's no longer the case. And now you can pay for non-prescription drugs like pain relievers, cough and cold remedies, and allergy products.
This rule isn't mandatory, so not all employers are offering the expanded benefit. Be sure to check with your employer before heading off to the pharmacy to stock up on OTC meds covered by your FSA. If you don't have an FSA account, talk with your employer to find out if they're available and if they're right for you.