Thread Drift

[Catrin]

Enjoy!

[shootingstar]

Wow, Crankin. More visits..

[ny biker]

I've been putting this off for a long time but can't procrastinate any longer... I have to log into the medical insurance and flexible spending account websites to see where I stand for this year and what I have to spend to use up the FSA.

My reason for delaying it is that I know I will end up angry at the FSA people. I am so careful using the debit card they give us, I only use it for things that are clearly and without a doubt eligible under the law. Like copays at doctors offices, prescriptions at pharmacies and contact lenses. Still they always end up accusing me of fraud and demanding proof that I haven't done anything wrong. I hate them. Last year they screwed up, charged a copay from 2014 to my 2015 account and refused to fix it, saying there was nothing they could do and therefore not letting me have $20 from 2014 that I legitimately should have gotten back.

No, I did not sign up for an FSA for 2016. It's just not worth the aggravation.

I will probably end up irritated by something with the insurance company, too. Ultimately they all punish you for getting sick. And they punish you if you go for checkups to try to avoid getting sick.

Deep breaths...

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ETA - So yeah, my health insurance only covers one preventive care visit per year. The colonoscopy doctor billed my visit to her under that category, therefore 0% of all other preventive care checkups are covered -- I have to pay completely out of pocket for the visit to the gynecologist. If I had gone for a routine physical, that would have been 100% out of pocket, too.

My employer apparently prefers that we all be diagnosed with late stage cancer or collapse from a stroke or heart attack.

And no, we are not given information about this in advance, beyond a vague sentence in small print in a hard-to-read pdf. We find out after we owe the money to the doctor.

I haven't even gotten to the FSA people yet.

====

OMG the FSA people refused to reimburse me for 2014 charges for NO REASON. "It was a mistake, we will process the claim now." Thieves. Can't wait for them to try to pull the same crap with the 2105 receipts that I'm about to submit.

Oy. Logging out of these websites and moving on to something more pleasant. First I will go on facebook to look at the photo of my friend's cat as he sits on her laptop and gives her the PLAY WITH ME look.

[emily_in_nc]

ETA - So yeah, my health insurance only covers one preventive care visit per year. The colonoscopy doctor billed my visit to her under that category, therefore 0% of all other preventive care checkups are covered -- I have to pay completely out of pocket for the visit to the gynecologist. If I had gone for a routine physical, that would have been 100% out of pocket, too.

What a pain, NY! That does not seem right at all. I am glad you brought it up, though. Just in case mine does the same thing, I'll try to make sure I get the colonoscopy in between years for my preventive physical -- I tend to only do that every other year. I wonder if this is a common practice?

I hope you are pleasantly surprised on the FSA reimbursement for 2015 -- maybe you'll catch a break this time? When I was working and had one, I don't seem to recall having many problems with getting reimbursed. If I did, I've apparently blocked it out of my memory. It was an annoying task, though; I do remember having to fax in forms and such all the time and carefully plan medical expenses throughout the year to use my funds. I remember having to buy a ton of disposable contacts one year b/c I was going to end up with a bunch of money left over in my account....

[Crankin]

Hmm, I can have a colonoscopy and a physical in the same year. Of course, I had my colonoscopy before the ACA, but DH had his after, and was fine. And he goes for 2 preventative exams, yearly, one with the internist and one with the cardiologist. We pay the co-pay for the cardiologst.
The FSA, however is annoying, but it doesn't anger me. We get questioned for receipts on a regular basis for things that are obvious, like PT co-pays, but yet, it paid for 2 years of acupuncture with no questions. We've had several companies, though, and some are definitely better than others. I have used it for very expensive glasses and then pay for my contacts out of pocket. This year, I used it for the contacts, though. What I don't do is use it for the non-prescription things that are supposed to be covered, but are always rejected.

[Pax]

Never bothered with FSA, my employer didn't need to know what I was doing health-wise. Then again, I've never made enough money to file more than a 1040EZ and my out of pocket medical expenses are pretty low, so it's not a big issue.