Flex Spending Woes

Greg and I take full advantage of his health care/flex spending plan set up through work. Pay into it tax free, and swipe our magic debit card at the doctor's office, and voila, medical bills don't affect our budget! I love and appreciate the whole flex spending system.

Less of a fan of the new way it was handled this past year though. It was our first year with a flex spending debit card, which was a huge plus, but we were never sent or emailed any kind of statements or updates on our account. It used to be I'd get regular updates through the mail with how much money we had left, how much had come through, and if anything had been denied. This year, I would check the balance online from time to time, and be all, "Good, we have $350 left." Then, "Only $170 left, that's not gonna last long," a little later. Then, "Crap, we have $80 left . . . that's only two ear infections . . ." back in October. But, we made it through October with money in the account, which isn't too bad. (Unfortunately, between Annie's ear infections, surgeries and my emergency room visit, we did rack up close to $400 in medical bills sans flex money. Oh well.) I was double checking it one last time for the year when I noticed a screen I hadn't checked before. Clicked on that, and lo and behold, we have an outstanding $208.16 that the flex spending company would like a check for, FROM MARCH OF 2009, because they apparently feel these were unacceptable charges. We can feel free to dispute these by sending in more information, or to mail in a check. This company feels we owe them two hundred plus bucks since early this year, and they never once contacted us about it?! So, now I'm tracking down paperwork and receipts and crap from like 9 months ago, and it's making me feel bitter. The real kicker to me is what they're disputing: a charge from INSTACARE, from our DENTIST, and from an EYE DOCTOR. Seriously?!

(I'm possibly more grumpy than I should be about it -- but I just talked to the really nice receptionist at the dentist office, who'll be faxing everything to Greg at work for me, all the while my kids were screaming at each other from the top of their lungs. I've had to have Greg make phone calls to reset passwords to websites I need access to but have lost the login info too. It was especially frustrating that I couldn't just do it myself, since they only would release the password to Greg himself. I've been tracking down papers, calling offices, and getting stuff printed up -- while dealing with Annie who is ornery and has come down with a bit of a fever, Ellie who seems to have developed a bad cold, an eye infection, and an attitude, and with my morning sickness that has not seemed to get the memo that I am in my 2nd trimester now and it can feel free to leave at any time. Thus, the grumpiness.)