Any financial guru's? FSA, savings & braces

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#1 Post by **dangerdude** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:33 am

My company offers FSA, I have never looked into it and it looks like a good thing to do for braces. My dental insurance (Cigna) will cover 50% cost for adults, I'm 30. It looks like the coverage for any other dental needs are pretty good as well.

I'm looking at getting braced in Dec or Jan. I have savings totaling $5,000 I can use for braces/dental work. I'll probably pay it all off at the get go. I don't think I need any major surgery but I haven't been to the dentist in over 10 years

But I'm still bracing for the worst. I'll probably have wisdom teeth removed, cavities filled, cleaning, ceramic braces, etc. The works.

Is it too late for FSA? Is there an enrollment period? Can I have them drain December's entire paycheck to FSA to be used in Jan?

Feb-March is the latest I'll wait. I've been holding off for too long..

Cigna has a payment estimator where you punch in your zip code and it will show how much I might be paying after insurance.

Braces- cost: $6,330 I pay: $2,535
Wisdom Teeth Removal (Four teeth-major)- cost:$2,600 I pay: $715

#2 Post by **jennielee81** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:22 am

I don't know about the FSA part of your post, but I am really envious of your insurence!

#3 Post by **pitterpat** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:28 am

About FSA -- You can only sign up for it during your company's annual enrollment period for insurance. That time should be approaching any day now since we are nearing the end of the calendar year. You tell them the total amount you want taken out for the year. They will spread that over you paychecks beginning in January. Week 1 of January you can file for the whole amount if you wish. You will get reimbursed for what you have spent up to what you plan to have put in the account, regardless of what you have in the account at that time. You will just have a negative balance.

You might want to go ahead and get a consultation for specific cost estimates based on your teeth. I found the process to take a few weeks. Tell the doctor's you are looking at having the work done after the first due to using FSA --- I'm sure they hear that a lot.

#4 Post by **dangerdude** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:47 am

I checked the enrollment packet when I arrived at work today, looks like I'm too late for FSA. Enrollment period ended last week

Min $100, Max $3,000

jennielee81:
You will be more envious to know I pay nothing for the insurance. Company pays fully for health, dental, eye and life insurance. I pay for extra life insurance and supplemental health coverage, roughly $10/month.

#5 Post by **jjjmac** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:11 pm

dangerdude - sorry to hear you missed that deadline! The same thing happened to me. I decided to go ahead with the braces about 2 weeks after my enrollment period ended. My insurance covers my CHILDREN for braces, but not me (I have no children!).

Where do you work to get insurance like that?? lol

#6 Post by **dangerdude** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:07 pm

I work for a large company who has been around for a long time. I think the employees would grumble too much if they ever did change the insurance plans. I've seen a few adults around the office building here with braces.

Hopefully I can claim something on taxes.

#7 Post by **jennielee81** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:11 pm

jennielee81:
You will be more envious to know I pay nothing for the insurance. Company pays fully for health, dental, eye and life insurance. I pay for extra life insurance and supplemental health coverage, roughly $10/month.

I paid 100% for all 3 of my kids and also for mine.

#8 Post by **badbite** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:00 am

dangerdude,

Where do you work? I want to work there just for the benefits!

#9 Post by **sherilynn23** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:15 pm

I paid for my braces that way!! My braces where 3,500. I paid 1500 down on my credit card (because I didnt do the plan that year) then the next year I enrolled and since I had not paid my balance off i used the plan to pay off the remainder of my balance. I too have great ortho coverage but without the fsa I would have never had been able to afford braces. After learning about this plan I wonder how any parent can ever say that cant afford braces...i brag so much about the plan that 3 other adults in my department have gotten braces this way!

Many doctors are cool about it and will be creative with the payments so that it can eventually be paid through the fsa. When I got teeth removed before getting braced my surgeon actually billed me January 1st 2008 even though I got them out in august of 2007 so that it would be covered under my fsa 2008 benefits. They usually have a 2 week extended period of time that you can enroll in benefits after open enrollement...i would check with HR to make sure...I know in rhode island they have that 2 week time period.

#10 Post by **dangerdude** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:35 pm

sherilynn23:

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to see if I can still do a late enrollment. Last Friday was the cut off date so its only been a handful of days. I want this FSA badly now. Doing the math, I could save a ton of money.

#11 Post by **dangerdude** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:30 am

My employer is sneaky.

All the enrollment packets, extra mailers, emails, etc list Octoboer 17 as the final date. I log onto the actual company enrollment website where you can make changes and pick plans, due date listed is different. I have until Nov 7

If I set aside the maximum of $3,000, tax savings will be about $1,000

25% tax bracet or so. So will I really be in the hole for $2,000? I recieve no tax refunds. I usually owe $100.

I still don't understand FSA fully yet, so I'm going to start reading up on FSA and get up to speed on the whole process.

Looks like with FSA, I can finace the braces on my own for 12 months. I can still pay off the services in full from the start and get some percentage off for paying in full. Thats will a negative balance of course. My company uses SHPS for FSA in case anyone is familiar with them.

Thanks pitterpat for the information as well.

$3000 FSA over 12 month period = $250/month deducted from paycheck.

#12 Post by **lilblackdress** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:55 pm

Since you have still time to enroll, I'll tell you how I had mine setup.

I told my ortho's office that since I'd be paying for braces out of pocket (no insurance coverage for braces *sigh*), that I'd like to work out a payment system so that I could use my FSA to cover my expenses. I also wanted to get braces ASAP which was before my FSA coverage for the following year kicked in. I was also maxed out of my FSA for the current year.

So, here's what I did:
1. Paid $500.00 down out of pocket without using FSA funds as I'd already used my allowance for the year (2007).
2. Setup a payment plan with the ortho's office that would spread out my remaining balance over the next 15 months.
3. For the following year (2008), I had the ortho's office charge my FSA account the same amount of money each month. I made sure that when I determined my FSA allowance, that I had enough money in the account to cover the 12 monthly payments.
4. For this upcoming year (2009), I'll make sure that I have my 3 final payments included in my FSA allowance to cover my remaining balance.

It's basically a matter of determining how much money the braces are going to cost you and applying that amount to your FSA. If your braces are going to cost more than what your insurance plan allows you to have in your plan, then you can add the difference to your FSA for the following year. That's what I had to do. Also, orthos really want to do business with you. A lot of people can't afford the cost of braces all at once, so ortho offices are used to working with their patients' insurance and FSA options.

The only other thing that I can think of is that different FSA plan managers require different levels of documentation or proof that you're spending your allowance on approved purchases. My plan allowed me to write them a letter with a payment schedule so that I wouldn't have submit a bill and receipt to them every month. Your mileage may vary.

#13 Post by **iamtheotherme** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:34 pm

I use FSA for my braces too, which is the only help I get since my dental insurance doesn't cover adult orthodontics (boo!).

Our plan works very similarly to sherilynn's and lilblackdress', except for a couple details. It is reimbursement plan, so I have to pay for the service first, then fill out paperwork to get reimbursed. This is no big deal, as I pay my ortho the payment when I go for an adjustment and they give me a lovely receipt that I submit to the FSA that day. At least I'll be getting a ton of credit card points for my trouble.

Also, because my treatment breaks over two years, 2008 and 2009, I had to submit a treatment plan to the FSA to have on record. It showed initial fees, record fees, the monthly payment amount, and the estimated treatment time. I'm not sure why, but we all (me, my dentist, the ortho) had to be very careful to call the down payment an "initial fee." The different terms mean something different to my FSA company and made a difference in if I got reimbursed or not.

#14 Post by **dangerdude** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:37 pm

I have a big headache today reading through all of my company's booklet for the FSA, seeing how it works and whats covered. Looks like I'll be reimbursed after I pay but its done electronically and automactially for my dental and FSA company.

I still don't get how I will be reimbursed if I pay in full starting in Jan. It doesn't look like they will give you back more than you have put in. So maybe I would put $250, they would give back $250.

#15 Post by **dangerdude** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:16 pm

I think I can take out the full amount after all...Dependent FSA is one where I would have to wait for the funds to be aquired first.

The amount available for reimbursement from your FSA at any time during the calendar year is limited to the total amount you elected to have contributed for that year, less any reimbursements you already received for that year.

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The amount available for reimbursement from your Dependent FSA at any time during the calendar year is limited to the total amount actually contributed to your Dependent Care FSA at the time of your reimbursement request, less any reimbursements you already received for that year.

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Available Reimbursement Amounts
The amount available for reimbursement from your FSA at any time throughout the Plan year is the total amount elected for the Plan year, less any reimbursements you already received for that Plan year.