Flexible Spending and Health Savings Account Qualifying Expenses

Drugs

Whatever you have spent out-of-pocket on prescription drugs (not reimbursed by your insurance) you may use as a qualifying expense for an HSA or FSA.

But beware: beginning in the tax year 2011, beginning in the tax year 2011, over-the-counter drugs were no longer eligible to be reimbursable by FSAs or HSAs unless a healthcare provider writes a prescription for them. You need to learn about (and a tactic for working around it) non-qualifying medical expenses.

If you are coming up on the end of the year and have extra FSA money to spend, then ask your practitioner to write your next year's prescriptions for whatever drugs you take on a regular basis, including birth control pills, blood pressure medicine, even lifestyle drugs like Viagra.

Of course, if you do pay to purchase those drugs in one year, don't include them in your estimate of expenses in the next year.

Quitting Your Bad Habits

If you work with your healthcare provider to quit smoking, or stop drinking, or to lose weight (see below), then those expenses may qualify for reimbursement through your FSA or HSA.

If you are coming up on the end of your FSA year, it might be a good time to talk to your practitioner about quitting smoking, losing weight, or if necessary, checking yourself into a rehab center. Just be sure to write the necessary checks during the year you want to apply those expenses to your FSA.

Weight Loss for a Medical Condition

If you have hypertension, heart disease, or are diagnosed as obese, some of the out-of-pocket costs for losing weight may be reimbursable.

For example, if you get involved in a weight loss program (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, others), or if you work with a weight loss trainer under the auspices of your healthcare provider, and you pay for those services aside from your insurance, then they may qualify.

You'll need to subtract from those qualified expenses the costs of food, or any expenses that are simply substituted for something else you might have needed prior to the weight loss activity.

Preventive or Screening Tests

The Affordable Care Act (healthcare reform) provides us with many preventive tests at no out-of-pocket cost to us. Payers are expected to pay for all of the costs.

However, there may be some preventive or screening tests that aren't on that list that you may want because of pre-existing conditions or family history. Co-pays or the total cost for body scans or colonoscopies or others will be reimbursable through your FSA or HSA.

If you're getting close to the end of the year, and have extra FSA money to spend, ask your healthcare provider which tests you can move into the current year so they can be paid for using your FSA set-aside money.

Home Improvements

This one is often a surprise. If you make modifications to your home to accommodate a medical problem you have, then those expenses are considered qualifying expenses.

Railings, support bars, modifying hallways, doors or stairways, building an entry ramp or any other modification—as long as it needed to be done to improve your access to parts of your home because of physical/medical challenges, you can be reimbursed by the FSA or HSA.

The IRS provides guidelines, and a worksheet to help you determine whether your home improvement expenses qualify.

Batteries

If you need batteries for your hearing aid, your glucose meter, or for any other piece of equipment that supports your health or medical condition, then you may be reimbursed for them through your HSA or FSA.

Keep the receipts, make a note about what the batteries are used for to be sure you distinguish them from any other battery purchase that may not qualify.

If it's the end of the year and you need to use up FSA money, then buy some extra batteries for those health or medical devices.

Lodging

If you must spend the night away from home for any medical purpose (for example, if you seek treatment at a hospital that is not near your home, or you wish to consult with a second opinion specialist), part of the cost of your out of town lodging may be considered a qualifying medical expense.

Again, be careful. The IRS is very specific about the rules that must be followed.

Medical Conferences

As an empowered patient or caregiver, you may be interested in connecting with others who deal with the same medical problems you do, learning from them, discovering the latest research findings and more.

Consider attending a conference that addresses your medical interests. The IRS will allow you to use HSA and FSA funds to pay for conference admission, although it will not allow you to use those funds for your transportation, lodging or meals.

Pregnancy Test Kits, Fertility Treatments, and Sterilization

Whether you think you are pregnant, or are having trouble conceiving a baby, or want to be sure you can no longer get pregnant, or impregnate someone else, the expenses that surround your circumstance as they relate to giving birth will be considered qualifying medical expenses.

A reminder that your actual out-of-pocket, reimbursable costs will not be the total cost of these events or products; rather they will be anything that is not covered by your health insurance.

Transportation or Travel

Travel or transportation for any medical reason is a qualifying expense, including tickets, gas, oil changes, and other maintenance, parking fees, and tolls.

Be diligent about keeping a mileage log and your receipts to back up any reimbursements you hope to achieve.

Lasik or Other Vision Correction

When your vision needs correcting, whether you wear contact lenses, glasses, or choose Lasik or other eye surgeries, your treatment to improve correction is considered a qualifying medical expense as long as it has not been paid for through your insurance or your employer.

If you are coming close to the end of the tax year, consider purchasing extra sets of contact lenses, or an extra pair of glasses, if you need to use up funds.

Wigs

If you wear a wig to cover up a loss of hair that resulted from medical treatment, whether you lost your hair during chemo, or your head was shaved for surgery, the cost of the wig will be a qualifying medical expense as long as your healthcare provider advises it.

To document your need for a wig, ask your practitioner to write you a letter or include the advice in his or her healthcare provider's notes. Include a copy of the letter or notes along with your reimbursement submission, but be sure to keep an extra copy with your own records.