It is a relatively easy fix tbh. You spend on medical bills through the account like you do right now, but the way you fund it is your post tax contributions. At the end of the year the account sends you a statement of what you used and you can use it to get the tax paid on the money back when you file the taxes.
> At the end of the year the account sends you a statement of what you used and you can use it to get the tax paid on the money back when you file the taxes.
If you underestimate the amount you spend by more than the rollover limit, you can't get that money back.
So on top of the broken employer-tied health insurance system, we have gamified the financing of out of pocket medical expenses.
On top of that, if you lose your job part way through the year, you lose the balance of any FSA funds remaining (they belong to your employer - I found that out the hard way).
The comment was about how to fix the current FSA. Instead of funding it with pre tax dollars and then losing it if you don’t use it, you fund it with post tax dollars and then get a reimbursement on your tax filing annually. That way, you can fund it as you need, spend it and then get back the tax because you spent it on medical expenses.
And if you're wrong on your medical expense paperwork it could be a felony!
Why shouldn't the institutions that do this all day and claim it as their special expertise handle all of this? Why should I even be /capable/ of losing money due to my lack of experience with the system?
The money is forfeited back to the employer. There should be a law that money is now taxed and forwarded to the employee in their regular payroll.
This system is designed to screw over regular consumers.
What do you mean by 'use the account'? Spend the money? That's the problem. If you don't have enough expenses you just lose the money. That's why I've never used one of these.
If by "the entire thread", you mean all the ancestors of this comment, I already have.
I'm not sure which of these is supposed to be the context I'm missing. It may be the "It is a relatively easy fix tbh..." comment. I couldn't understand the wording of accounting procedure there.
It’s not great for everyone but if you have kids with braces, family members who need yearly glasses, consistent prescription costs, etc then it is pretty easy and worthwhile.
