Surely I’m not the first…
to look at what my health insurance company is doing with flex spending accounts and go, “hey, wait a second…”
Here’s the deal.
My wife and I both have flex spending accounts this year. Mine is significantly bigger than hers, as we’re anticipating some rather hefty medical-related bills for me this year. Teeth aren’t cheap. We’re not anticipating any huge expenses for her…
We are two people, with two very different amounts set aside from my pre-tax income, yet we received only one flex spending card (a visa), with only my name on it.
Wait a second. The insurance provider wants to charge me $5 more for another card with her name on it. That dosen’t make sense. She should have her own account. The funds should be separate. Otherwise, what’s to stop us from spending money from my account on her medical expenses and vice-versa? This is insurance fraud. What’s to stop other people from using their flex spending accounts to pay for expenses for -other- people entirely, as long as the purchase appears to qualify, will insurance cover it? This is fraud. If my wife uses the card with my name issued on it, and uses funds from my account to pay expenses for her qualifying purchases, this is fraud and forgery if she has to sign a receipt (her name won’t match the name on the card) I’ve got an email in with the insurance provider asking if the funds are tied together in a single account. If that’s the case, I’m asking how they audit for flex spending fraud. If it’s not the case, I’m demanding that my wife get her own card for free. If they don’t provide that, then they’re encouraging and enabling largescale fraud by not auditing records.
Something here isn’t right. The whole point of getting two accounts was so that we wouldn’t have to juggle a card between the two of us. If a provider asks her to see the card, and I’m not around, she’ll never be allowed to use it.
I could be wrong, but last I checked, even if you’re a family member you’re not supposed to use a card that isn’t explicitly issued to you.
And if the accounts are bound, then I’m really ticked off. Because we could have gotten away with putting a less into the flex spending, and I could have brought home more of that every month.