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  • New rules for Health Savings Accts, FSAs, MSAs

    I read in our accountants' newsletter that new changes would take effect on January 1st. We will no longer be able to use these funds to pay for over-the-counter medicines or drugs unless we have a prescription from our doctor. Insulin and certain medical devices and supplies will continue to qualify.

    The old guide lines were difficult enough. Bandaids were allowed but not feminine hygiene products. Prenatal vitamins but not regular vitamins. Eye drops were allowed. I have bought many types of eye drops. Now I wonder if a prescription will have to be for one particular drop; I doubt if my doctors would be willing to write 7-8 prescriptions for different drops.

    People have posted about how expensive dry eye is for the patient. I really hate to lose this benefit. I was more or less kicked out of my health plan and forced into a HSA. I'll stop my rant before I get into increased premiums and increased deductibles.

  • #2
    Hopefully your doctor will be ok with writing the rx's for you... Just go to the appointment prepared with a list of ALL of the drops that you use... have estimates for how long 1 bottle of drops (or 1 box of PF tears) lasts you... then you can make it easy for your doc by giving him a list of precisely how much of each you need the rx written for.

    I felt weird asking my doc for an rx too... especially the Bion tears... 1 box lasts me about 4 days only (1 vial per eye to rinse out the ointment in the morning, 1 vial per eye to flush out the eye after heat/gland expression, plus 1-4 vials overnight to unstick my eyes when I wake up to use the washroom depending on how many times I wake up ... it sounds so crazy to go through that much, but there it is). And then there was the Celluvisc... 1 box lasts maybe 2 weeks or so (I use it more now that the air is so dry, plus at work I need it quite often to survive my shifts)... And then there's the Lacrilube ointment...

    Anyhow, hopefully you have an understanding doc... I'd think that as long as you can demonstrate why you use what you use, they should have no issues with writing the rx...

    Good luck!

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