Hellobee Boards

@FliegepilzHut: I opened an FSA account this year through work to pay for the (admittedly small) portion of my IVF that I had to pay for OOP. I figured that if it worked and I got pregnant then I'd just use the $$ for pregnancy related doctors visits, meds, etc, and if it didn't, I'd keep using it for IF treatments. Unfortunately I decided to take a loooong break and so I still have unused money in there.

I agree with @Mrs.Pinecone316: on it being a good thing to set aside at least some money, as long as you have a back up plan for it's use.

I've been pondering over how much to set aside for next year. We flew through the amount I usually set aside once we started TTC this year and I found out that OPKs, pregnancy tests, and pre-natals were eligible expenses.

@FliegepilzHut: an FSA is use it or lose it. So you have to be pretty sure what you're going to be spending. Or you're going to be stuck buying tons of contact lens solution to use up your FSA. The FSA is great because it withdraws from you pay, but you get the entire amount upfront. So if you allocated $2500 for your FSA, you get in all at once January 1 and you're deducted $2500 over the course of a year.

An HSA is basically an FSA but you can invest the money in the HSA once it reaches a certain amount and you don't have a time restriction on when you use it all up. With the HSA you're contributing to it as you go, which is determined by how much you want to contribute per year. So I contribute $6,000 into my HSA every year since that's my health plans' out of pocket max. By half of the year, I will have $3000 in my account assuming I haven't used it yet for anything.

hope this helps.

As far as "products" go, I find this really helpful http://www.drugstore.com/fsa-store/qxg59875-0. I used it one year when I had funds to use up (and was how I found out I could use it on pee sticks!

@FliegepilzHut: No problem :). BTW though, diapers and OTC meds are not legit expenses, and I'm not sure about the classes. I think whether you have to choose depends on your employer, but if you have an HSA there's not much point to the FSA.

@PurplePumps: The HSA will always go with a high deductible plan. But if the plan is decent, the savings you pay in your paycheck contributions should offset it. At my former employer the Blue Cross HMO plan (individual) was $50/paycheck. The HSA plan with the same benefits was $8/paycheck and a $1300 deductible, plus a $250 credit from my employer. Plus with the HMO you have co-pays for every visit, which as I'm sure you know, can add up when you're going for monitoring every other day. For me it made sense, but I can see how that might not be true for everyone.

@PurplePumps: Pretty much EVERYTHING breastfeeding related was FSA eligible. We had $2500 in an FSA ready to go for IVF and RE stuff, but got magically pregnant! I dropped like $800+ on breastfeeding supplies, pump parts, pump bra, etc. I also go pregnancy tests, condoms, prenatal vitamins of all kinds, baby sunscreen - basically anything we could possibly use from the FSA section of Drugstore.com. We got disposable pee pads for the bed (in case my water broke and now to line our crib under the sheets and over the changing pad). I'll also have to order some new glasses and contacts, get some dental work done, and probably still stock up on more breastfeeding stuff before the year is out. Its sort of an annoying problem to have, but it is what it is! You may want to look into more expensive things that you may not typically go for, like orthotic insoles for shoes or Rx sunglasses.

Has anyone looked into secondary insurance for more IF coverage?

I used it for copays, dentists,partial oatmeal for ivf and meds. We only did $2k.

@aegie: @FliegepilzHut: The law now allows for up to $500 of FSA funds to be rolled over to the following year. If your employer amended their plan, you don't have to use all yours up! This happened in 2013, I believe, and I rolled my 2013 funds over to 2014. Prior to that I used to spend any leftovers on new glasses or contacts.

Here's to hoping your employer amended their plan! Worth a question at least!

@FliegepilzHut: Sorry it took me so long to respond. Yes you can contribute whenever you want with the HSA. You connect it with your bank account and you can schedule for automatic contributions or a one time lump sum too. the benefit of it coming out of your paycheck is that it's tax free. But definitely you can lump sum it too. My company gives us $1100 contribution into our HSA yearly plus whatever I add to it throughout the year, so it's been pretty nice for me. Plus I can use one account for everything - health, prescriptions, eye, dental, etc.

For what it's worth, I also have an FSA too for things like contact solution, etc. You can have it reimbursed through the HSA card but it's easier to fill out for reimbursement through my FSA than HSA for whatever reason. So I do both. And I was expecting a lot medical expenses upfront. But it's not necessary. If you do both, you can't use your FSA for medical or prescription unless you use up your HSA or you can show that you've met your deductible. Otherwise, it can only be used for eye care and dental.