Ack!
So if you're not familiar with flex spending, it's a nice benefit provided by some employers wherein you get to pay for dependent care and medical expenses with pre-tax money! So you get a nice savings.
BUT... you must decide, annually, UP FRONT how much to contribute to your flex spending account. If you don't use it, you lose it! So if you overestimate what your medical expenses will be, you totally throw that money away!
Well, my HB MW requires we pay her up front, in full. Then she has a company that bills insurance & will reimburse US whatever comes back. In order to bill insurance, I as the client must pay an additional $200 for this company. Gotta love our fantastic American health insurance process, huh?
So here's my dilemma - how much to put into the Flex spending account for the HB??? I KNOW I will absolutely, definitely, pay out of my own pocket the 100% amount for the HB - no doubt about that. so I COULD just place that 100% into the flex spending account. However, that sorta 'feels' like fraud since I don't expect that 100% to actually be what I personally pay in the end. But I DON'T KNOW what I'll pay in the end!
The info my MW provided actually said it's hard to predict what will be covered. & This is all even further complicated by the fact that I had some prenatal care through hospital-based CNMs, so I'm going to try to get coverage for that as well.
Any input for me? I've asked my MW & suggested she put me in touch with her insurance-billing firm. I suspect I'll just put the 100% fee into the flex spending. After all, I WILL be paying that out of my pocket.
So if you're not familiar with flex spending, it's a nice benefit provided by some employers wherein you get to pay for dependent care and medical expenses with pre-tax money! So you get a nice savings.
BUT... you must decide, annually, UP FRONT how much to contribute to your flex spending account. If you don't use it, you lose it! So if you overestimate what your medical expenses will be, you totally throw that money away!
Well, my HB MW requires we pay her up front, in full. Then she has a company that bills insurance & will reimburse US whatever comes back. In order to bill insurance, I as the client must pay an additional $200 for this company. Gotta love our fantastic American health insurance process, huh?
So here's my dilemma - how much to put into the Flex spending account for the HB??? I KNOW I will absolutely, definitely, pay out of my own pocket the 100% amount for the HB - no doubt about that. so I COULD just place that 100% into the flex spending account. However, that sorta 'feels' like fraud since I don't expect that 100% to actually be what I personally pay in the end. But I DON'T KNOW what I'll pay in the end!
The info my MW provided actually said it's hard to predict what will be covered. & This is all even further complicated by the fact that I had some prenatal care through hospital-based CNMs, so I'm going to try to get coverage for that as well.
Any input for me? I've asked my MW & suggested she put me in touch with her insurance-billing firm. I suspect I'll just put the 100% fee into the flex spending. After all, I WILL be paying that out of my pocket.
