Hey Mark, it's Dan!

I think the design is purposely flexible for use cases like these because there are so many variations. Also the goal was to put out a somewhat black slate and see how people used it, then evolve the product to match ACTUAL use, rather than forcing people into one way of doing things that might not meet their needs.

Basically there should be enough combinations of status / FSA flag for you to easily develop a system that works for you. here's what I might do:

when you get the initial bill:

- log it, using the details form to log the initial amount charged and the amount you paid.

- Do not check of "FSA".

- Set the status to Pending:Insurance.

Now you can run reports to see what your insurance hasn't reimbursed yet by looking at all the Pending:Insurance txns. You could make sure to only use that status for ones you need reimbursement from. For other cases where they are paying directly to the provider, you might mark it Pending:Provider.

Do you file your insurance right when you pay the bill? if so, then the next step is when you get the reimbursement:

- log the amt of reimbursement and any "write-off" in the detail form.

- set the status to Paid.

For FSA tracking, I think it's most helpful to just check the "FSA" box as you file for reimbursement.

Then you can run a report for all the FSA items that are checked, and see if you have received the reimbursement for them.

It really depends on your workflow. If you always file for the FSA as you pay the bill, or right after you receive the EOB, then the fact that the status of the txn might tell you that you've filed for reimbursement, and you could use the FSA flag for items where you've received the reimbursement.

Because it was really unknown what lots of people's work flows were for FSA, the product has just this one checkbox, and the idea was that the team would learn how people actually used it through these feedback forms. Then V2 could have something more tailored to what people said they needed.

SO: I'm sure Lisa and the team would find it helpful if you would just ignore my advise and play with it a bit to see what system works best for you - and then let them know. OR if you think it needs more statuses, or 2 FSA checkboxes or whatever, they'd want to know that too.

Dan - Good to hear from you. Thanks. - Marc

Marc:

I have an FSA. I add the expense in the detailed section, I change the FSA status to "To Submit". When I submit the form to the FSA provider I change the status to "Submitted". When the I receive the check I change the status to "Reimbursed". The only problem I have found is that when the FSA provider denies the submission, there is no status of "Denied". This would be helpful to monitor the claims denied by the FSA provider.

If you want to verify your information to the FSA, I run reports based on status under Reports, FSA Expenses.

Hope this helps you out,

Gary

Dan:

In some states Insurance Premiums are not deducted pretax. For example, New Jersey insurance premiums are after tax deductions and are eligible to be deducted on the state return.

Gary

Dan:

In some states Insurance Premiums are not deducted

pretax. For example, New Jersey insurance premiums

are after tax deductions and are eligible to be

deducted on the state return.

Gary

Did you just post this one to the wrong category?

OK. I'm new to this and I have the same question as the original question. This is basic and someone has to hold my hand. Forget about the FSA for a minute.

1. I pay a nonparticipating provider $100.

2. I submit to the insurer. The insurer sends me a check for $60.

3. In the end, I have paid $40 ($100-$60). How do I enter the reimbursement so that the entry shows that in the end I paid a net $40?

I can get it to show $100. But not $40. I mean I can lie and say I only paid $40 to begin with, but that doesn't seem right. The program should do the math. What are the exact entries?

There's a space for the co-pay and an amount allowable, and the insurer told me both of those. But I don't care about either of them, because the provider doesn't participate, I had to pay the whole thing, and all I want to know (for now, at least) is how much I'm out-of-pocket. (That's where the FSA comes in, because I want to track how much is going in to be reimbursed.).

There's got to be an easy answer to this that I'm missing.

(Also, how come the FSA statuses aren't in the main status sequence with the rest of them?)

Message was edited by Sandy at Jul 24, 2005 6:41 PM

Message was edited by Sandy at Jul 24, 2005 6:44 PM

Message was edited by Sandy at Jul 24, 2005 6:49 PM

I can get it to show $100. But not $40. I mean I

can lie and say I only paid $40 to begin with, but

that doesn't seem right. The program should do the

math.

Right now, that is how you do it. As you can see from other posts throughout this forum, "should" and "do" don't always line up. My approach is to do what I have to do to get the numbers I need on the reports that I use and document any detail that is lost in the billing or medical details. Then, when I upgrade to a version that allows me to keep the detail I want, I can use the notes to reconstruct what happened.

There's got to be an easy answer to this that I'm

missing.

I'm sorry, but there isn't.

(Also, how come the FSA statuses aren't in the main

status sequence with the rest of them?)

Interesting question. I encourage you to look through the rest of the forum to find the discussions on statuses. There seems to be a trend towards having multiple statuses for various reasons. Read through the posts and please comment on how you think the FSA status(es) might fit into some of the proposals floated.

-Tony

Thanks! Hmmmph. Seems like the program ought to be able to handle reimbursement checks to show net out-of-pocket costs. I mean, that's kind of the bottom line for me -- how much do I end up paying? Not exactly a bizarre transaction or a weird question.

Up to now, I've tracked medical expenses using the "class" function in Quicken itself. Like "/B" for "To be submitted to Blue Cross," "/BS" for "Submitted to Blue Cross," "/F" for "To be submitted to FSA," etc. Then you can generate reports by class to show where you are at any given time.

This program has a lot of potential, and it's better than the other medical tracking software I tried, but it's still in beta, apparently. I might go back to the old way until they come out with a finished product -- especially since there's no way to download/export payment entries into Quicken, or vice versa, so everything has to be entered twice. I expected it to be integrated with Quicken.

Will we early adopters get a break on upgrades?

Message was edited by Sandy at Jul 25, 2005 6:21 AM

I'm spending my day using QMEM for the first time. I found that I can enter a negative amount in the Addl. Payment field under My Payments in the Details.

I'm using this to capture reimbursement by a second insurer. For example. Prescription Plan A has us pay $50 co-pay. When submitted to Prescription Plan B, they reimburse $30. I used a Split Insurance to record both insurances. When B sends the $30, I enter that in their insurance and put a negative in the Addl. Payment field.

Does anyone see a problem with doing this?

Hi, SMK.

I've been doing the same thing. I'd prefer if the different payments were separate, but since they're not... I've done exactly what you have described.

The other thing I do is put lots of comments into the billing notes tab (from in the details window) so that I can be sure of what happened if I have to go back and be able to explain anything (like if I end up having to dispute something on the claim).

Sorry I'm responding so late to this thread - this is a response to Sandy's question. I'll repeat the steps:

1. I pay $100 to a non-network provider, submit claim to insurance.

2. I get a check from insurance for $60.

What I do in this case, and what it seems like the product is designed to do is:

1. Enter $40 in "additional payments"

2. Enter $60 in "insurance payment"

Now it shows that I paid $40 out of pocket. Which is correct. And it shows that insurance paid $60. Which is correct. All the accounting's right - what's the problem?

Sorry. I was on vacation and what not. I guess the answer is that I didn't pay $40; I paid $100 and got reimbursed for $60. When I receive the check for $60 I shouldn't have to get out a calculator and subtract the $60 from the $100 and then go back, override the true entry, and replace it with a false entry that I only paid $40 to begin with. Like I say, the program should do the math. You can always doctor the numbers to force the program to do what you want, but if you're doing the calculations yourself, revising the entries yourself, and checking your calculations yourself, you might as well be using a spreadsheet. Or a pencil and some ruled paper, for that matter. You're doing twice the keyboarding, to enter the same transactions in Quicken and QMM, and getting no added value. That's my beef.

Hard to believe that this has been pointed out nearly 4 years ago and the program still operates like it was written for an Apple 2e in the 1980's. Why can't the program address a simple issue like paying the out of network provider in advance in cash and wait for Major Medical to reimburse their paltry sum? QEM does a poor job of meaningful record keeping and an even poorer job of responding to their customers in a helpful manner.