Not So Flexible Spending

matthewdipaolamd:

“Bills in the House and Senate would cap at $2,500 an employee’s allowable annual contribution to a health care flexible spending account.

There is no federal cap on contributions now, though companies that offer the accounts — more than 80 percent of companies employing 500 or more workers do — typically impose their own limits, usually around $5,000.

Workers can use the accounts to save pretax income, which then can be used to reimburse a range of medical expenses, including dental and vision costs, prescription and over-the-counter medications and copays and deductibles — again without being taxed.”

For those people interested in maintaining latitude in spending their own dollars for their own health care, the new bill would impinge on that practice by restricting tax free contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts.

This is no doubt the influence of the insurance industry. They want to be in control of every transaction that happens in healthcare. They do not want to see true consumerism. Once that happens, they can’t artificially inflate the cost of everything in healthcare.