FSA gotcha

Topics: Regulation
28 Dec 2009

From: Ervan Darnell

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At the bottom of all broken things lies the government. I went to pick up a
prescription at the pharmacy this morning. My insurance covered most if it.
I tried to use my FSA for the co-pay. Wouldn't work. I called the FSA
company later in the day. Eventually, I learned that they would only deal
with "IIAS certified" pharmacies. I called the pharmacy. The pharmacy said
that they looked into that but it required upgrading all of their equipment
to itemize every purchase (including a code for every medication) on an
electronic receipt sent to the credit card (i.e. FSA) company for approval.
The pharmacy said it didn't want to invest that much.

Why IIAS? The government mandated it[1]. The FSA structure is a
government-created joke in the first place, as a partial fix to the inequity
in the tax code. Now, we see the hidden cost of it, drug prices rise to
meet the substantial reporting burden, and your privacy is further
compromised by having more records of medicines you are using in front of
more eyes. So, we have the irony of the government try to regulate rising
drug prices when it created the problem. No, this one little nit is not
responsible, but it's a tidy example of induced cost from failing to
consider reporting and regulatory overhead.

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[1] http://www.discoverybenefits.com/news.aspx?permalink=384

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At the bottom of all broken things lies the government. =A0I went to p=
ick up a prescription at the pharmacy this morning. =A0My insurance covered=
most if it. =A0I tried to use my FSA for the co-pay. =A0Wouldn't work.=
=A0I called the FSA company later in the day. =A0Eventually, I learned tha=
t they would only deal with "IIAS certified" pharmacies. =A0I cal=
led the pharmacy. =A0The pharmacy said that they looked into that but it re=
quired upgrading all of their equipment to itemize every purchase (includin=
g a code for every medication) on an electronic receipt sent to the credit =
card (i.e. FSA) =A0company for approval. =A0The pharmacy said it didn't=
want to invest that much.=A0

Why IIAS? =A0The government mandated it[1]. =A0The FSA =
structure is a government-created joke in the first place, as a partial fix=
to the inequity in the tax code. =A0Now, we see the hidden cost of it, dru=
g prices rise to meet the substantial reporting burden, and your privacy is=
further compromised by having more records of medicines you are using in f=
ront of more eyes. =A0So, we have the irony of the government try to regula=
te rising drug prices when it created the problem. =A0No, this one little n=
it is not responsible, but it's a tidy example of induced cost from fai=
ling to consider reporting and regulatory overhead.

---------
[1] its.com/news.aspx?permalink 384">http://www.discoverybenefits.com/news.as=
px?permalink 384

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