FSA account

[goodnites2002]

So I had to call our plan administrator to have some questions and asked if incontinence products were covered. She first drew a blank, so I said depends and similar products. She looked it up on her computer and said I would need to submit a doctors note because her computer didn't say yes or no. I got off the phone and thought that was that.

About 3 minutes later I got a return call from the lady. Turns out they are covered. I did not clarify of that was with or without a doctors note, however I'll follow up with another post after the next time I buy diapers and submit the receipt for reimbursement.

Fyi, my plan is administered by Manley services (pacific source). YMMV.

[Ace]

Please do keep us posted, I would be interested as being in this field myself professionally, we require a doctor's note to pay this. If you can get it paid without the note from your doctor, I'd certainly like to know.

[tokie]

Originally Posted by diapernh

i don't see it as fraud. I am not taking money that is not already mine. the money in my FSA comes out of my check pre-tax

The pre-tax part is where it'd be fraud. Instead of paying taxes on it, there's a program (FSA) that lets you use the taxes for medical purposes. If you're cheating by using them for some other purpose, then that's fraud.

That said, diapers are probably a fine line because it would be very difficult for someone to -prove- that you didn't really need them for medical purposes (eg. bedwetting).

You'll have to submit a receipt for the FSA purchase anyway. Just try it. If they won't cover it, they'll just deny the attempted claim.

[diapernh]

oh, they cover it. I have did it several times

[goodnites2002]

Well, it's taken some time to go through, they are in the process of moving to a new database system however I checked my online statement and the 5.95 charge I submitted from xp medical for a sample package was approved without a doctors note. Again this has been my experience and yours may be different.

[Ace]

Good to know, I appreciate the update.

[Sparkz]

Isn't an FSA account still $1:$1? It's just a bank for medical purposes so you aren't exactly saving any money. What is the benefit of doing it this way?

[Spaz]

I have one of these accounts through work. Basically, at the begining of the fiscal year, I set aside an amount to cover medical expenses. Every paycheck, they take out a portion pretax and set it aside in an FSA account. Then I pay for a monthly shipment of diapers online (no tax). I submit a reciept to the company that manages the account and get reimbursed. I save money on the federal tax that I would have paid if I had made a purchase without doing this. Since I am medically incontinent, I also have to send the company a note from my Urologist. The part about the note was required by the company to show I needed "incontinent supplies." The reason why they require the note is because the IRS doesn't want people buying diapers pre-tax unless they are needed for a medical condition.
Spaz

[incon50]

I've experienced the same situation that SPAZ has had with his FSA. Over the years, with different companies, some plan administrators required a doctor's note and some did not. Those that did not actually had depends listed on covered items. Even though they listed depends I submitted bills from XP Medical for abriform and was never questioned.

incon50

[Valerye]

Originally Posted by Sparkz

Isn't an FSA account still $1:$1? It's just a bank for medical purposes so you aren't exactly saving any money. What is the benefit of doing it this way?

you do not pay tax.