How to determine how much to set aside in medical spending account?

[robby]

I confirmed that my company has a medical spending account. How do I go about determining how much money I should set aside in it? Should I just add up my medical bills from this past year? What other things should I take into consideration?

[DivaJen]

DH and I just went through this. First, make sure you know what all your plan will and will not reimburse.

We added up the costs for all of our known prescriptions as well as how many doctor's trips we were likely to make, and what those copays would add up to. In that we included trips to the dentist and eye doctor, as well as routine lab work. We also figured out how much we spend on average for things like ibuprofen, contact solution, etc.

We started recording medical expenses last year, and this year I'm going to keep track of all expenses that are covered by the med reimb plan, so that we'll have a better idea when it comes time to set aside money next year.

We aimed to be conservative, so that we aren't looking at a large sum of use or lose money come 12/05.

[terry1156]

If you don't have all the information from the past year, do your best to guess and for this year, a conservative number would be smart. Keep track this next year and you'll have a good number.

[robby]

Where can I get a list of items that are covered? Are Eastern therapies usually covered?

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by robby

Where can I get a list of items that are covered? Are Eastern therapies usually covered?

Ask someone in your HR department - either someone there will know and have a list for you, or be able to point you in the right direction. We got a list of what is and is not covered. I think acupuncture and chiropractic treatments are included on ours.