Don’t Wait. Use Your Flexible Spending Account For Back Pain Treatment Now.
If you have a Health Flexible Spending Account (FSA), this is the perfect time to take care of that back pain procedure you have been putting off. Stop suffering from back pain and schedule your minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments including kyphoplasty, epidural steroid injections (ESIs), selective nerve root block (SNRB), medical brand (facet joint) denervations, or sacroiliac (SI) joint injections.
Your health FSA lets you use pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible health care expenses for you, your spouse, and your eligible dependents. You can then use your pre-tax FSA dollars to pay for eligible healthcare expenses throughout the plan year.
However, you may be at risk of the “use it or lose it” rule. The IRS requires that all money you put into your health FSA during the plan year must be used to reimburse qualified expenses incurred during that year – funds left over at the end of the year are forfeited. The unused portion of your health FSA cannot be paid to you in cash or other benefits.
In some cases, your employer may offer one of two types of extensions. Check your plan documentation for details on the following:
1. Run-out period: a set number of days after the plan year ends and allows you to submit claims incurred during that year.
2. Grace period: a set number of days after the year of the plan ends, that lasts two months and 15 days. During this time, you can use the remaining FSA funds to reimburse eligible expenses incurred during the grace period.
If you have money remaining in your FSA accounts, take action now:
– Make sure everyone in your family schedules appointments and/or procedures with physicians, dentists and optometrists before the end of the year or grace period.
– Schedule that minimally invasive, non-surgical back pain treatment like kyphoplasty, epidural steroid injections (ESIs), selective nerve root block (SNRB), medical brand (facet joint) denervations, or sacroiliac (SI) joint injections.
– Get flu shots and vaccinations. Has everyone in your family had a flu shot and kept up-to-date with other vaccinations?
– Make sure you double-check medical receipts to confirm you didn’t forget to submit any claims for reimbursement, such as out-of-pocket expenses. Submit any outstanding receipts.
– Replenish first-aid supplies and medicines that need refilling.
The take-away? Make the most of your benefits; check your accounts now to avoid losing money that may accidentally remain unused on your account.
Indiana Back Pain Center has been serving Central Indiana and the Indianapolis metro area since 2003. We are in-network with a number of health insurance providers and accept Medicare and Medicaid. You can find a general list of the insurance providers we work with here. (http://www.indianabackpaincenter.com/insurance/)
