Grassroots advocacy organization Save Flexible Spending Plans is making a last-ditch effort to get new Congressional leaders to repeal a provision of health reform before the Jan. 1 effective date.
Starting on Jan. 1, 2011, participants will need a doctor's prescription in order to use their FSAs to pay for over-the-counter medications, such as allergy medicine and cough syrup. Another reform measure requires that, beginning on Jan. 1, 2013, contributions to FSAs will be capped at $2,500 per year.
"It was never a good idea to fund health reform on the backs of hard-working Americans who use flexible spending accounts to manage and contain health costs," said Joe Jackson, chairman of Save Flexible Spending Plans and CEO of WageWorks, Inc., a benefits provider based in San Mateo, Calif. "To improve and fix the health reform law, Congress should quickly repeal the requirement starting Jan. 1, 2011 that a doctor's prescription is needed for consumers to use their flex accounts to purchase over-the-counter medications, including Claritin, Zyrtec and Tylenol. This provision will not only drive up health care costs, but it is an utter waste of consumers' and physicians' limited time."
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