Every winter holiday, we get an influx of patients who want to come in to use their HSA’s or FSA’s towards their LASIK procedures before the year ends. Well, there are new changes that affect Flex Spending Accounts or “FSA’s” that will give a lot of our patients a great option!
First – a quick summary – Flexible Health Spending Accounts (or “FSA’s”) give you a tax-free way to pay for a procedure like LASIK, PRK or SMILE.
Due to the global pandemic, there have been some temporary changes to the rules which govern the use of FSA’s.
What happened?
The federal government basically allowed employers to give the option to extend the usual deadlines for their employees to use up their FSA funds or allow their employees to roll over their FSA’s into 2022. The employees who maxed out their contributions to their accounts in 2021 can actually combine those funds with their 2022 contributions to pay for the entire price of a laser vision correction procedure using tax-free dollars! NOTE: this is only allowed now due to the pandemic!
As shared in a recent article by the Refractive Surgery Council, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced in May that the 2022 F.S.A. contribution limit is $2,850 (when in 2021 it was $2,750). By leveraging the temporary carryover allowed under The Consolidated Appropriates Act, 2021, fully funded F.S.A. holders can access $5,600 which is more than enough to cover the national average for the price of a laser vision correction procedure, which is a qualified expense according to the IRS.
What does this mean?
This is a really GREAT time for patients considering LASIK but holding back due to price because it is their chance to take advantage of this tax-free opportunity!
2022 is the only year that FSA holders thinking about laser eye surgery can take advantage of the unlimited balance carryover.
As noted in RSC’s article, the price of LASIK has remained pretty stable for more than a decade even when faced with inflation. So if any of our readers are thinking about using their well-earned money for a procedure like LASIK, 2022 is their year to do it tax-free.
Call us!
If you have been thinking of LASIK, wanting to get rid of your glasses or contact lenses, but want to save some money, now is the time to do it. Take advantage o this great tax-free opportunity to get your vision squared away. Call us at 713-626-5544 to book a FREE LASIK evaluation and speak to one of our Refractive Surgery Counselors about how you can save on LASIK!
