Every paycheck I have a few dollars taken out and put into my Medi-flex account. Perhaps you're familiar with this accounting scam. It works by having you become psychic enough in December to know how sick you're going to be the upcoming year and how much it will cost. You then tell your employer this magical money (along with the winning lottery ticket) so he can take money from your paycheck before it's taxed and give it to an accounting firm to graciously hold onto.
Next, during those 12 months, you submit your medical bills to that accounting firm (who only has your best interest at heart) for reimbursement. If, at the end of the year, you had been too healthy to use up all of your medi-flex money, the accountants get to keep it and go on their own spending spree. So shame on you if you didn't keep track of every aspirin, cough drop, and doctor visit. When I say "keep track of", I mean having a receipt with so much documentation, it would make an IRS agent weep.
Now the bad news. It seems that, after playing this medi-flex game for a few years, most people get amazingly proficient at gauging what their upcoming medical expenses will be. Bad taxpayer! Bad taxpayer! But don't worry. In order for the government and medical accounting firms to make more money next year, they did what any spoiled brat would do when they're losing the game … they change the rules. Starting next year, you can no longer use your hard earned dollars in your account to buy any over-the-counter medicine. All of your receipts have to be doctor related and prescription based, which means none of this trying to heal yourself nonsense. Come December, your psychic powers had better be more powerful than that of a Wall Street broker.
Now the good news. These rules don't go into effect until January 1, 2011. So if you still have a lot of money idling in your medi-flex account, I suggest you go buy one of those medicine cabinets that are the size of an outdoor shed. Then, stock it full with every over-the-counter remedy that you can lay your hands on. If you're lucky, you might be able to write off the medicine cabinet as well.
What if you were a wise steward of your medi-flex resource this year and have nothing left in your account? Then I would suggest buying a box of envelopes. Whenever you or your loved ones or close friends (including the family cat and dog) have the sniffles and sneezes, just make sure to cough hard enough to coat the inside of a few envelopes. Seal this little germ treasure chest and mail it to your representative in government and to your medi-flex accounting firm. There is no reason why you shouldn't spread your wealth around.
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