High Maintenance Mom

My husband and I recently decided to enroll in his companies Flexible Spending Account (FSA) program. I knew about it from my days working for Blue Cross Blue Shield. After reviewing how the program works I started using the debit card they sent us at doctor's offices, pharmacies and drug stores. It all seems very logical....you allocate a certain amount of pre tax dollars towards the account and you use your debit card for eligible purchases. The web site associated with our FSA program is very good at telling us what is eligible and what isnt and also has a section for claims paid and pending. The only real draw back at this point is that all the places we use our FSA debit card are not known by the FSA provider so we have to fax in the receipts until they load their system with the providers info. It's a bit of an inconvenience now but once they know all of the places we use the debit card, things will be approved directly at the point of sale. Thus far, we have been using FSA dollars for sick and well baby visits and prescriptions for the kids and for us. We haven't used it for everyday items like band aids and eye drops but we could. Things that are not covered are items such as child care, diaper services, breast pumps, baby formula and vitamins for well being although my prenatal vitamins where covered. Aside from my husband forgetting to fax in receipts of unknown providers, it is working and is a good idea.