Warning: Med-flex plans have unintended consequences
April 3, 2008 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Drug Use, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Money
A few years ago, the IRS ruled it was OK for employees to use medical flex-spending money for over-the-counter medications. Good news, right? Well, not exactly.
The American Journal of Industrial Medicine warns that the ruling created a greater risk of workplace injuries and lost time because of employees who end up zonked on over-the-counter meds.
It’s not that employees are trying to abuse the medicines. Many don’t know that some OTCs contain antihistamines and other strong ingredients that impair judgment and reaction time.
And because the OTCs come without a prescription and doctor’s orders for dosages, still many more workers think exceeding the recommended dosage on the package won’t have consequences.
Plus, the plain fact is that if employees have flex money to use up, their first convenient option is OTCs.
One way you can help: Let employees know about the dangers of over-the-counter drugs, especially if you have a flex plan that covers OTCs.
Sending out the alarm can save tons of sick time and maybe prevent
a serious injury in the workplace.
Tags: drugs, flex-spending, injuries, IRS
July 9th, 2009 at 11:54 am
This is the silliest commentary. Flex-spending programs don’t increase stupidity. People don’t run out to buy and overdose on medications because they can be reimbursed for them, but they are glad to be able to apply flex monies toward needed OTC expenditures.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Susan, I loved your comment because you are right on!
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Susan’s right. This is lame. The original report from the AJIM sounds ridiculous. You know what else? Tylenol coupons are bad for employee performance because they encourage OTC drug consumption. If companies were to stock their first-aid stations with Robitussin and Tylenol PM, I’d understand the concern.