Schedule Your Doctor’s Appointment Now
Have you scheduled annual checkups for 2019? One consideration: preload all of your regular medical visits, check-ups, and check-ups early in the year.
There are two arguments for this. First, you will catch any illnesses or problems now before they get worse.
And as Liz Weston, personal finance columnist, writes , it can also help if you incur medical expenses at the end of the year. As you probably know, you have a cash cap that limits the amount you will pay in deductibles, copays, etc., throughout the year.
“Once you reach your plan’s limit, your insurance will usually pay the entire medical bill by the end of the year,” Weston writes. If you think you can hit him, it makes sense to do so as soon as possible so that if you need extra care, you don’t pay out of pocket for it.
If you have a flexible spending or health savings account and are incurring expenses in excess of the amount of money currently in your account (since money is added every billing period, not all at the beginning of the year), you can reimburse yourself later when your funds are replenished, “even next year,” John W. Seltzer, CEO of J. Seltzer Associates, an employee benefit consulting firm, told CreditCards.com .
“You are allowed to reimburse yourself for qualified medical expenses from the HSA account if the expenses were incurred after the opening of the HSA account,” Zeltser said. “There is no time limit on when you can reimburse yourself for these costs.”
It’s the same with the FSA, Weston writes. You can apply at any time and receive a refund up to the annual contribution limit (which is $ 2,700 this year for the FSA and $ 3,500 for the HSA individual ).
“If you lose your job or quit, you don’t have to pay back the difference between what you contributed and what you spent,” she writes.
You will, of course, want to keep all receipts and records for audit purposes. Make sure everything is out of date and you can get your compensation without any problems.