ObamaCare: Doctor's Prescriptions needed for aspirin

Special Report w/Brett Baier ^ | 10.27.10 | Jim Angle

[rvoitier]

Screeching Halt to Flex Spending Accounts?

Big changes coming to tax-free medical accounts

[rvoitier]

Three hours out of our day and a doctor's visit expense for frickin' asprin.

Yea, real efficient. Real cost-cutting.

Check it out

[InvisibleChurch]

It’s just a case of having power over you.

[GlockThe Vote]

Bump.

[sodpoodle]

Myra Liarson (NPR) in unarmed combat with Charles Krauthammer called FSA’s tax-subsidized!!!!

She claimed that because FSAs are tax-deductible, other people were required to pay taxes to make up for them.

These libs are insane!!!!

[Wolfie]

Hey, it’s not really your body, ya know. Just ask the DEA.

[fwdude]

The interviewees in the piece tried to spin it as a possible benefit, but there is absolutely no upside to this.

I have a health savings account (HSA) which requires that I have a high deductible health insurance plan - I pay for any needed Dr.'s visits and prescriptions other than preventative up to a very high deductible, up to a couple thousand dollars. So, I'm now going to have to pay $100+ dollars for a bottle of aspirin that cost me < $5.00 before. This is basically a nullification of any benefits for my HSA.

You know, true Americans WAAAYYY underestimated the magnitude of oppression of this "healthcare" legislation when it was proposed. But I guess "we had to pass it to know what's in it."

[saganite]

I had to look it up to see what a flex spending account was:

“The most common type of FSA is used to pay for medical expenses not paid for by insurance; this usually means deductibles, co payments, and coinsurance for the employee’s health plan, but may also include expenses not covered by the health plan, such as dental and vision expenses and over-the-counter drugs including a first aid kit.”

There are two things here that strike me as interesting about this rule. Flex spending accounts are tax free up to the maximum donation allowed so this will serve to make these plans much more difficult to use and kill the programs.

But that’s not the most interesting thing going on here. According to the FOX report it may be cheaper for some to just get prescription medicine if they have a good copay from their insurance plan. I can see the fingerprints of prescription drug company lobbyists all over this. Make it just as difficult and maybe more expensive to use generic drugs and push people to use prescription drugs instead.

I read an article during the health care debate that said lobbyists had set up shop in coffee shops and restaurants near the White House and Congress to hash out deals with Aides for legislative goodies to avoid having to sign in and be listed publicly as entering the WH or Congress. All to comply with the Dems promise to cut the lobbyists out of creating legislation. Umm Hmm.

Of course, you could just pay cash for your generic drugs and avoid the whole hassle.

[ripley]

“These libs are insane.!!!!”

They’ve been showing their insanity for decades, yet they have been elected, re-elected, and re-re-elected, ad nauseum, year, after year, after year.

The insanity is all around you in the voters who love to vote for them.

IMHO

[BuffaloJack]

Just what we need, the Mexican Drug Cartel being our aspirin supplier.

[Condor51]

*** Three hours out of our day and a doctor's visit expense for frickin' aspirin. ***

No. Not quite. You just won't be reimbursed for the $2.00 if you have a MSA (medical savings account). It will now be just like with any regular health insurance policy with an Rx card - Prescription Drugs Only. All OTC drugs will be out of pocket.

I don't have an MSA, but if I did I wouldn't use it for Cold Medicine or Aspirin. I'd save the money for when I was really sick and/or for regularly scheduled Dr office visits.

I'm not saying the change is bad or good. Just that this seems like much ado about nothing. As there's a LOT WORSE garbage in ObamaDeathCare to b*tch about.

[a real Sheila]

I’m not defending this, but WHY would one go to the doctor just to get an aspirin prescription?

Last year I paid $275 to sit for 2 hrs. waiting for test results for a UTI just to get a freaking $4 antibiotic prescription from Wal-Mart! Had no choice in that situation. We don’t have a CVS minute clinic in my area.
IF the antibiotic had been OTC, I would have gladly paid cash for it and avoided the doctor’s office.

[SirFishalot]

It’s really quite simple, this move is being done soley to increase tax revenue.

[MichaelP]

There is a huge difference for those of us that use it. My wife needs to take Prilosec. The insurance will not cover the prescription because it is available otc. The cost is about $45 a month. The are many examples like that, Claritin, Benedryl, etc. It is a stealth attack on our health costs. And BS in my opinion...

Mike

[Second Amendment First]

I was doing some research on this for my spouse, who needs to respond to employees questions regarding benefits. One qestion is: how long can the prescription be good for? A year? A month? Each purchase? I found this on one benefits site:

The documentation required for a prescribed OTC drug or medicine is still being clarified by the IRS. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

This is one more uncertainty for employers left by this administration, in addition to the tax increase/withholding fiasco. I think they are out to intentionally destroy any kind of certainty in business so as to impose more socialism.

[fwdude]

I’m not defending this, but WHY would one go to the doctor just to get an aspirin prescription?

The scenarios are merely theoretical, but accurate.

If I have no pain relievers in the house and have a need for one, I can go buy one at the drug store, but my health savings account, which has been set up to allow for just this need, is made irrelevant.

I have to state in the most forceful language that this is merely an inception to what the Marxists want. They want much, much more control.

[EagleClaw]

My employer offers a medical FSA. It is a very popular benefit, and I have used it for many years. You have to establish how much you want to put into the FSA at the beginning of the year, so you are essentially guessing about what your eligible out of pocket costs will be during the year. The catch is that FSAs have a “use it or lose it” provision, so any unexpended balance at the end of the year is forfeited. Everybody uses OTC drugs (ibuprofen, aspirin, claritin, zyrtec etc.) to use up any remaining balances on eligible items they know they will need. This is no longer possible.

We also just received our health insurance costs for next year, and they are up significantly. I have talked to many, many people here who were on the HopenChange bandwagon who are not happy campers.

[efs111]

I’ll bet th folks at Sam’s and Costco are licking their chops! Big shopping binge before 1/1/2011!

[zzeeman]

The catch is that FSAs have a “use it or lose it” provision, so any unexpended balance at the end of the year is forfeited.

I've never had one of those FSA accounts but I had heard about the "use it or lose it" aspect. My question is, where does that forfeited $$$ go?

[Second Amendment First]

Many of these meds used to be prescription. When they were moved to OTC, the prices actually went up. It’s not just $2 aspirin we’re talking about any more. And some of the allergy drugs are limited in quantity because of the WOD, so some people are actually being arrested for buying more because they need for their children as well as their own needs.

[Second Amendment First]

The MSA’s will now be limited to $2500.