Flexible Spending Accounts Get Stingy

(Smart Money) — With one month left to exhaust any money remaining in flexible spending accounts, it’s time for the annual ritual of stocking up on aspirin, re-ordering contact lenses and squeezing in one more round of skincare treatment . But starting next year, new rules will make that drugstore shopping spree a lot harder — which means re-thinking how you spend this year’s money, and how much you allocate for 2011.  The new rules are a hassle. Starting in January, many over-the-counter medications will not be covered by FSAs without a prescription. If you want a tax break for Tylenol, you’ll need a prescription from your doctor. Yes, that defeats the point of “over-the-counter,” and doctors aren’t exactly eager to spend their days signing off on routine meds, says Dr. Roland Goertz, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which represents 94,000 doctors. But consumers who don’t want to jump through these hoops could lose about $500 to $1,000 of tax savings each year, says Thomas Harte, a board member with the National Association of Health Underwriters.

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