In the days when we had a flexible spending account for medical expenses, our medicine cabinet was something else. Several boxes of band-aids, premium first aid kits stocked for every ailment imaginable and a rainbow of medicines lined the shelves.
Then we switched to a health savings account and the mad attempts to spend all of our excess flex spending money before it expired dwindled along with our band-aid supply. Honestly, I don't miss the FSA guessing game at all (although it was replaced with an even more maddening HSA guessing game...but that's another story).
When I was administering nearly two-year-old pain relief medicine to our daughter this week, I decided maybe it was time to restock.
Now's the time to do it.
Come Jan. 1, I won't be able to use my HSA for over-the-counter medications unless a doctor's prescription accompanies it. The changes are tied to health reform and apply to flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement accounts as well. So if you want to use your tax-advantaged accounts, take a peek inside that medicine cabinet during this big 'ol blizzard we're supposed to get and make a list.
I stocked up on new medicines on Tuesday and grabbed a few boxes of character band-aids too. A colleague made fun of me when I said this, but I think fun band-aids make great stocking stuffers for little kids.
