Podcast interview: Impact of health reform on Flexible Spending Accounts

[audio http://website.guild.im/williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2010/07/dietel3.mp3]
Discussion of health care reform tends to focus on the big issues like individual and employer mandates and minimum medical loss ratios for health plans. But the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) reaches into just about every corner of the health care world, setting off a flurry of activity as rule-making and implementation proceed.One change you might not be aware of: a new rule that requires patients to obtain a doctor's prescription for OTC drugs if they want to use their tax-advantaged FSA to pay for them. The change is scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2011, but it presents serious challenges for retailers and others who must rework their IT systems right at the busiest time of year. Not only that, but the final rules still are not settled. For example, is the "prescription" as stringent as what's required for a prescription drug, or is it more like a doctor's note?In this podcast interview, Jody Dietel, president of the Special Interest Group for Inventory Information Approval System Standard (SIGIS) talks about the compliance issues and argues for a delay in enforcement.