Pharmaceutical Drugs List Medication Requests May Replace OTCs with New Limitations on FSAs
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Pharmaceutical Drugs List News - Beginning January 1, 2011, patients may be asking for either a prescription for their over the counter medication or for drugs that can replace their over the counter medication. This is because the beginning of the New Year brings with it new limitations on flexible spending accounts (FSAs).
New Limitations Could Harm Those That Rely on OTCs Rather Than Pharmaceutical Drugs List Medications
Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) were created to provide a tax benefit for patients that can estimate their healthcare spending in a year. For instance, if an individual with chronic asthma knows that they spend approximately $500 on prescription drugs per year and on physician office visits and medical procedures, then they would elect to put $1250 into their FSA to reap the tax benefit on the $1250.
Until the new health reform law takes effect, FSA funds could be used to buy anything health related such as bandages, crutches, and any available over the counter medication – or non-prescription drugs - such as ibuprofen, cold treatments, allergy treatments, and asthma treatments. With the new reform law, as of January 1, 2011, FSA enrollees will no longer be able to buy over the counter medication with FSA funds unless their doctor has provided a prescription for the medication.
Health experts are concerned that this may cause harm to patients with chronic conditions such as allergies or asthma. Many of the drugs used to treat these conditions have become over the counter within recent years. Moving these drugs to a non-prescription drug class not only made the medication less expensive, it made it easier to access without having to speak with a physician each time it is needed.
The reform may cause chronic sufferers, those people most likely to use an FSA account, to either choose not to buy over the counter drugs for treatment, or move back to the more expensive pharmaceutical drugs list class to enable them to use their FSA funds to make the necessary purchase; it may also result in fewer employees enrolling in flexible spending accounts.
