Slice of Life Tuesday: One More Successful Call to Bureaucracy

As a retiree, my husband set up a Flexible Spending Account a few years ago, but never got it together to use it — and it's one of those accounts that if you don't use the money each year, you lose it. Last fall, when he got a reminder letter that he had until May of this year to use it or forfeit it, he said we should look into this and how to get the money. Well, of course, we never got around to it, and the reminder has been in my pile of to-dos for months.

            Today I finally called the benefits office to find out what exactly I need to do. After 25 minutes on the phone talking to two people, I learned that the FSA only covers premiums for Medicare Part D, and that amount is on Jack's Social Security 1099. (If I'd read the reminder more closely, I'd have known that, but who reads every word on a form letter.) Filing a claim is easy.

            I'm rather glad Jack isn't here because it would have been really hard not to say "see how easy this was? how much money did you give back to McGraw-Hill because you are so bureaucracy-resistant?" At least it's one more thing I can cross off my to-do list and remove from my mind.