What Qualifies as a Medical Expense With My HSA?
One of the benefits of a Health Savings Account is being able
to make tax-free withdrawals to pay for your qualified medical
expenses.
So what “qualifies” a medical expense?
To pay for a medical expense with tax-free funds from your Health
Savings Account, the expenses have to meet many of the same requirements
as medical expenses that qualify for an itemized tax deduction.
Unfortunately, although they’re tax-free, healthcare expenses
you pay for with cash from your HSA Account can’t be claimed
as deductions. Your health insurance premium also won’t
generally qualify as a medical expense.
Some premiums can be considered qualifying medical expenses,
including:
- Your premium for long-term care coverage
- Insurance premiums once you’re sixty-five or older
- Healthcare coverage while you’re unemployed
- Healthcare continuation coverage required by federal law
To guarantee withdrawals from your HSA Account really
are tax free, you have to keep records that show:
- The withdrawals from your HSA were exclusively used for qualifying
medical expenses
- The healthcare expenses have not been previously paid from
any other source
- You have not taken the itemized deduction for the same healthcare
expense on your tax-return
Qualifying Medical Care Expenses that are eligible for
HSA Plan reimbursement:
- FDA-approved prescription drugs, birth control pills, and
vaccines
- Visits to general practitioners, dentists, ophthalmologists,
osteopaths, chiropractors, podiatrists, physical therapists,
acupuncture therapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists
- Regular medical examinations, insulin treatment, x-rays and
laboratory services, and doctor prescribed whirlpool baths
- Nursing help
- Hospitalization and short term hospital care, lab fees and
clinic costs
- Substance abuse treatments
- Emergency ambulance services and other healthcare related
travel costs
- Necessary medical aids such as: Eyeglasses, contact lenses,
hearing aids, dentures, braces, crutches, wheelchairs, orthopedic
shoes, seeing-eye dogs—and their maintenance cost, etc.
For a complete list of HSA qualifying medical expenses you can
check out IRS Publication 502 at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf.
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