How much Money should I put in the flexible spending account?

[Anonymous]

I am going to have my first baby in early September and the HR people said I can adjust the money for my flexible spending account.
How much money I might spend for the first year baby (e.g pediatrician visit, check-up....etc) ? Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

You'll be putting money in for Sept-Dec expenses, because the FSAs cover calendar year expenses.

Look at your health insurance to find out what your responsibility will be for the hospital charges associated with the birth, calculate your co-pays for the prenatal care, and for about 4-5 doctor visits for the baby.

You don't want to put too much in the account, because if you don't spend it, you will lose it. There is a grace period on some FSAs, but you'd have to check with HR to find out what yours is.

[Anonymous]

This was covered a few months ago. Do a search; people had good advice.

[Anonymous]

You also should go to your plan's website to see the list of covered and non-covered items. I was surprised to find a number of drugstore items on my covered list (although some are excluded, too). Also, a friend was able to include her breast pump as an expense; however, I am not. So there are probably minor variations that you should look into. I got prescription sunglasses, which are covered, and if I have money remaining at the end of the year, I might just get another pair of glasses or buy a bunch of pharmaceuticals.

Some insurance covers most of the maternity medical visits, so you may not actually have a lot of out-of-pocket expenses related to maternity health care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You also should go to your plan's website to see the list of covered and non-covered items. I was surprised to find a number of drugstore items on my covered list (although some are excluded, too). Also, a friend was able to include her breast pump as an expense; however, I am not. So there are probably minor variations that you should look into. I got prescription sunglasses, which are covered, and if I have money remaining at the end of the year, I might just get another pair of glasses or buy a bunch of pharmaceuticals.

Some insurance covers most of the maternity medical visits, so you may not actually have a lot of out-of-pocket expenses related to maternity health care.

And I would also like to add with this that if you are planning on hiring a Doula, you can use your FSA money to pay for services as well. Most insurance do not cover Doula services.

[Anonymous]

But again, you should check with your FSA to be sure that a doula is covered expense. Like the Breast Pump, it might not be, depending on your FSA rules.

[Anonymous]

Just to correct the 13:10 poster, not all FSA's are calendar year. Ours is June 1 -May 30th. It depends on how your employer has it set up. But certainly when it runs out is something to consider.