A flex spending account is an account offered to state employees (and other private companies) that allows them to put money on a credit from their paycheck pre-tax. You get to put an agreed upon amount on a card to be used for medical purposes only. The amount is deducted from your paycheck in equal installments, but is put on the card immediately.
The card can be used for any medical reason like medical co pays, prescriptions, or even buying medical supplies for your home like Tylenol. The card issuer randomly checks your receipts to make sure that your are only using the card for its intended purpose, after all they are letting you do this tax free and is a privilege.
I was against the card at first because if you don’t use all the money on it in a one year period you lose it when the card renews. My wife decided to try the card out with a conservative amount on it to be safe. I was wrong about the card, last month our quads needed RSV shots and all got sick on top of that, there were $150 in co-pays alone, plus the cost of prescriptions. All of this was paid for on the card, considering taxes account for about 1/3 of your paycheck we saved about $50 just on those co pays that we didn’t pay taxes on. Next year we will be increasing the amount we put on the card. Worst case scenario is we buy medical supplies with what is left, 5 kids need a lot of Tylenol and band aids.
