Yep. I'm part of that right and I was extremely displeased by the ridiculousness and hyperbole of some complaints and campaign strategy. My standard answer to a lot of these folks was that if that is the biggest complaint about Obama that you can come up with, then you should vote for him.
actually found out via my wife's HR dept, not some blog. and no, they didn't tell her prior, nor did my company. in each instance, i would bet that somewhere over 75% of employees voted for Obama. in fact, at my wife's company, publicly traded, with +5k employees, there are life size cutouts of Obama around the office. i guess you have to read the bill to find out what's in it.
Each year? I'm only 26, but I haven't racked up that much in out-of-pocket costs in my lifetime. You could always use an HSA (assuming you qualify).
You wouldn't necessarily use it each year, but you collect it for that year when you might have $30 or $40k in expenses. This is a very real issue for people who lose their insurance with their job late in life and then have a major medical issue.
That is good that you haven't had to burn through a lot of cash, but there are many folks, especially those with families, that easily can burn through plenty of money when you factor in everything it can be used for. When you start factoring in braces, dental care, glasses, deductibles, patients' portion of expenses, services where you exceed the maximum number of visits (e.g. mental health, chiropractic) and a myriad of other expenses, this can be a nice benefit if one plans appropriately.
For HSAs, I can see it. For FSAs, $8k is ridiculous. I'd just assume not have insurance if I was coming out of pocket so much on an annual basis. If I knew going into the year that 2 kids were going to need braces, okay. Maybe I'll just stay poor and keep my kids on PeachCare forever.
Isn't there an out of pocket max for most insurance now? My insurance out of pocket max is 6800. Sorry forgot about things not covered under health insurance, dental work etc.
Exactly. 8k is beyond rediculous for an FSA. Many plans have an out of pocket max that is well below 8k.
Right. It gave you the flexibility to plan accordingly. Wait until the new year to start the orthodontic process or get that new pair of glasses or schedule that elective surgery. It's not that hard to start burning through cash with a couple of medical procedures and dental work.
That root canal I got wasn't covered by my medical plan and not near completely covered by our dental plan. The lenses for my glasses easily outpace my maximum eye hardware coverage. Co-worker's have kids that get braces which can cost up to a few thousand dollars. That's not covered by our medical and again and far outpaces the dental. Chiropractic issues? Mental health issues? Oftentimes there are a maximum number of visits for each of theses types of services. Oftentimes, you need more than the maximum. Again, not something a person or family needs each and every year, but it is a provable, tangible benefit that is being reduced.
To an extreme few. HSAs are better for what you describe, and the maximum is around $6k for a family.
I'll let all of the people in my company that have kids and generally make use of the FSA that they are the 'extreme few'. Healthcare savings account contributions are capped at 75% of the maximum deductible for a family.
I understand your arguement, but FSAs span out for a max of one year. IMO, there are better more conservative options like an HSA in conjunction with a FSA that are better suited for these types of issues. You're referencing an EXTREMELY small minority. How many people do you think can actually afford to put $2500+ into an FSA, regardless of how severe thier medical conditions may be?
"a lot." btw, i brought this up to a group of folks over the weekend, all of whom voted for O, and none of them knew about it. so, it's not info that's been widely disseminated.
Furthermore, losing pennies on the dollar after taxes as apposed to avoiding taxes using an FSA wouldn't hender someone who could afford to contribute up to $8k of thier salary to an FSA. Payment plans, are usually an option for high dollar medical costs.
