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HSA Qualified Expenses – 53 Items To Maximize Your HSA Deductions

Using a HSA (Health Savings Account) with your federally qualified HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan) is a great way to provide health insurance to you and your family. Since the federal government has provided HSA’s a tax advantaged status, it is important to know what expenses are allowed (and what is not allowed) so you don’t get in trouble with the IRS.

Review the list below and make use of every HSA Qualified Expense you are eligible for. You may be surprised at some of the items on the list, because the government does allow for some medical expenses that are typically excluded from traditional health insurance plans.

What are HSA Qualified Expenses?

The government basically says that an expense incurred for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, and the costs for treatments affecting any part or function of the body is allowable. This includes payments for legal medical services rendered by physicians, dentists, and other medical practitioners. You can also include costs of equipment, supplies, and diagnostic devices needed for the above mentioned items. However, medical expenses must be primarily to alleviate or prevent a physical or mental defect or illness. It does not allow for expenses that are merely beneficial to general health, such as vitamins or vacations.

The following list includes items that are commonly over-looked, but are considered HSA Qualified Expenses. Note, this list does not include all possible medical expenses, just some of the ones that may not be so obvious.

HSA Qualified Expenses

• • Acupuncture

 

• • Alcoholism – Inpatient treatment, including meals & lodging. Also, transportation expense to and from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings if the attendance is pursuant to medical advice.

 

• • Ambulance

 

• • Artificial Limbs

 

• • Artificial Teeth

 

• • Bandages

 

• • Birth Control Pills – If prescribed by a doctor.

 

• • Body Scans – Electronic body scans ordered by a doctor.

 

• • Braille Books & Magazines – Just the cost difference between a regular printed version and the version for the visually impaired.

 

• • Breast Pumps and Supplies – Medical expenses incurred that assist lactation.

 

• • Breast Reconstruction Surgery – Non-cosmetic purposes only, such as reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy for cancer.

 

• • Capital Equipment (i.e. Medically Required Home Improvements) – If the equipment/improvement/modification does not increase your property value, all of the expense is a HSA qualified expense. However, if the equipment/improvement/modification increases your property value, then only the difference is allowable. For example, you put an elevator in your home that cost you $15,000, but your property value increased $20,000, the difference is $5,000 and is the amount which is allowable. Some of the more common improvements include, but are not limited to, the following items:
    • Constructing entrance or exit ramps for your home
    • Widening doorways, both exterior and interior
    • Installing railings, support bars, or other bathroom safety modifications
    • Lowering or modifying kitchen cabinets and equipment
    • Moving or modifying electrical outlets and fixtures
    • Installing porch lifts and other forms of lifts (but elevators typically add value to the property)
    • Modifying fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other warning systems
    • Modifying stairways
    • Adding handrails or grab bars anywhere
    • Modifying hardware on doors
    • Modifying areas in front of entrance and exit doorways
    • Grading the ground to provide disabled access to the home
    • Only reasonable costs are allowed. Costs for architectural or aesthetic reasons are not HSA qualified expenses.

 

• • Car – much like your home, the cost for equipment/improvements/modifications necessary for the use of a person with a disability are allowed. Again, if it increases the value, only the difference is allowable.

 

• • Chiropractor

 

• • Christian Science Practitioner

 

• • Community Living for the Intellectually pengeluaran hk  and Developmentally Disabled – Allows the cost of keeping a person in a special home, (not a relative) on the recommendation of a psychiatrist to help the person adjust from life in a mental hospital to community living.

 

• • Contact Lenses – Can also include saline solution, enzyme cleaner, and other items required for using contacts.

 

• • Crutches – Either the cost to buy or rent is allowable.

 

• Dental Treatment – Preventative treatment, such as teeth cleaning, sealants, fluoride are allowable. Also, X-rays, fillings, braces, extractions, dentures, etc. are also HSA qualified expenses.