We-Have-to-Pass-It-To-Find-Out-What’s-In-It Fact of the Day
They provide all the services the Commonwealth Fund thinks everyone should have: same-day or next-day appointments, 24-hour phone and e-mail access and unhurried office visits.
They provide all the primary care advocates want patients to have: comprehensive preventive services, including specialized blood work, ultrasound tests, nutrition and exercise consultations.
So why are the fees paid to concierge doctors not considered “medical expenses,” that can be paid from a Health Savings Account or a Flexible Spending Account?
Go figure.
Good post. This is one of the really stupid things about the law governing the use of health accounts. This didn’t start with Obama Care. The defect was already there in the previous law. But Obama care didn’t remedy the defect. It kept it in place.
I agree with you. This is a terrible defect in the law.
The title is misleading, since the regulation wasn’t the result of Obama Care. It was already part of the tax code (or at least the way the tax code is being interpreted).
One more reason why the federal government should not regulate our healh care system.
This type of restriction makes absolutely no sense. We should be encouraging the types of services concierge doctors deliver, not discouraging them.