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Examiner Editorial: Got a doctor's prescription for that Advil?

Examiner Editorial
October 27, 2010

Starting Jan. 1, Obamacare forbids the use of a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account to purchase over-the-counter medicines without a prescription. (Mark Lennihan/AP file)

Millions of American workers have recently been told they will have to pay higher premiums for their employer-sponsored health insurance, or else have their coverage canceled, all thanks to Obamacare. But this is only the beginning -- it gets worse.

Employees who use tax-free Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses will soon have to reconsider their decision to do so. Starting Jan. 1, Obamacare forbids use of an FSA or HSA to purchase over-the-counter medicines without a doctor's prescription. For HSA users, this is an inconvenience and an added expense, but it's much worse if you have an FSA. Unlike HSAs, you lose all the leftover cash in your FSA unless you spend it by year's end. What's more, any forfeited funds are also taxed, even though you didn't spend them and can't get them back. Further, already heavily scheduled doctors will have to accommodate yet more appointments and phone calls, thus reducing the time available for diagnosis and treatment of all patients.
By eliminating a broad range of legitimate uses, Obamacare dramatically increases the risks of losing the pre-tax money the account holder contributes to an FSA. Under Obamacare, unless you make additional doctor's appointments, you are effectively barred from using your pre-tax funds to purchase legitimate and necessary medical items like Tylenol for your baby or Advil for your arthritis. One FSA provider, 24Hour Flex, recently gave notice with a list of drugs clients would no longer be able to purchase without a prescription: "Acid controllers, allergy and sinus ... anti-gas ... baby rash creams ... respiratory treatment ... cough, cold and flu ... stomach remedies, feminine anti-fungal ... pain relief."
As the New York Times noted Tuesday, breast pumps are not an FSA-allowed expense, despite their proven health benefits to infants and their potential to help save $13 billion in annual medical costs. This is fitting, because the Obama administration created the FSA restrictions to milk taxpayers and thereby help conceal Obamacare's true costs. And after all of the misleading rhetoric the White House used to sell Obamacare, we now discover that the IRS is the new authority that will make Americans' health care decisions for them, and that it considers motherhood to be a "pre-existing condition."
The new provision guarantees that patients will either pay more for the same drugs, clog doctors' offices with expensive and unneeded appointments, or a combination of both, defeating the entire stated purpose of Obamacare. But the new law, cobbled together in haste and assembled through backroom deals benefiting favored states, senators, and drug and hospital lobbies, serves purposes that were never stated honestly. With each new revelation, it looks less like a fix for the health care system and more like a recipe for increased state control of Americans' financial and health choices.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Got-a-doctor_s-prescription-for-that-Advil_-1353869-105899143.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dcexaminer%2FOpinion+%28Examiner+Editorials%29feed&utm_content=Google+Readerfeed&utm_term=feedGoogle+Reader#ixzz13bkAOVPZ