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Monday, January 17, 2011
6:06 AM EST
Ryan Ellis

Obamacare’s Medicine Cabinet Tax Hit Millions on Jan. 1

Due to an Obamacare tax hike which took effect on January 1, Americans are no longer able to use their Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (with the exception of insulin).

Under the pre-Obamacare rules, health consumers could use these pre-tax accounts to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines.  But starting on New Years Day 2011, the 40 million Americans who use FSAs and HSAs (including 5.7 million HSAs with $7.7 billion in combined assets) were no longer be able to use their accounts to buy simple, everyday medicines like the following:

--Aspirin
--Antacids
--Laxatives
--Menstrual pain relievers
--Antihistamines
--Stimulants
--Anti-Ulcer Medicines
--Athlete’s Foot Cream
--Cough Medicine
--Motion Sickness Medicine
--Anti-Diarrheal Medicine
--Decongestants
--Hemorrhoid Cream
--Anti-Flatulence Medicine

The provision is just one of Obamacare’s two dozen new or higher taxes totaling nearly $600 billion over this decade. 

The tax increase affects any family that has an HSA or FSA.  Therefore, it is clear violation of President Obama’s oft-repeated promise not to raise “any form of taxes” on any family making less than $250,000 per year.

Posted by Ryan Ellis on Monday, January 17, 2011 6:06 AM EST

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