FSA for Diapers

[babypat80]

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if this has been asked previously (I imagine it has), but I was wondering if people in this group use an FSA account to purchase diapers.  I don't think insurance coverage is an option since my understanding is that you can only get them through medicaid and I have a separate policy.  If you do use an FSA, were you required to provide an incontinence diagnosis first?  I don't technically have one, although I have notes about "bladder urgency" and "spinal injury" in my record dating as far back as 2010.  I imagine I could get my doctor to help me out.

Here's a dumb follow-up question:  My employer will know what I'm spending the money on, correct?  It's not the end of the world, I just work for a large company where most people know me, and I would rather not have the state of my continence be public knowledge.   Especially since I'm most likely going to be buying women's incontinence supplies the majority of the time.  Obviously I assume it's strictly forbidden for the FSA admin to share any of this info, but I suppose it could get around to HR people, etc.

I actually haven't set up an FSA in many years despite having the option to do so.  For those of you who use them, do you typically carry an FSA card?  Or just submit receipts at the end of the year for reimbursement?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Menaiya]

FSA spending is NOT available to your employer.  I have used my FSA to pay for adult diapers before. Most FSA management is handled by a third party.  I mostly used the FSA card and then submitted the receipts.

HIPAA also prevents the company from being able to view your medical history.  

 

[babypat80]

2 hours ago, Menaiya said:

FSA spending is NOT available to your employer.  I have used my FSA to pay for adult diapers before. Most FSA management is handled by a third party.  I mostly used the FSA card and then submitted the receipts.

HIPAA also prevents the company from being able to view your medical history.  

 

Thanks Menaiya!  So you didn't have to have an incontinence diagnosis to buy them?  I would think it wouldn't be necessary, but I saw one FSA/HSA-related website where it said "you may be asked for a diagnosis..."

[deewet]

Prior to my retirement, I used my FSA account fully, one of the major gripes I have with Medicare, that it is not available.  

One of the issues I faced was with my medical support panty hose that I need to wear to avoid blood clots.  I needed to get a  doc script to get these approved as they were considered (std clothing)?  Not a problem as I had several choices of docs that worked on my legs so I just contacted their office and got the script written, end of story.

These days with Medicare getting stricter, I recently had to go to my doc to get a script for my CPAP replacement parts.  Again, Medicare is far more problems than what I was used to with private health care provided when I was working and the cost of it and the supplement needed is more than my co pay was, not sure why the push to force this upon all??

[willnotwill]

HHS (Medicare) and IRS (FSA/HSA/Tax Deductions) are two separate government agencies with different laws and regulations.   You can't extrapolate any meaning between the two.
 

As far as the FSA, that is governed by the IRS rules.   FSAs and HSAs allowable expenses refer to the general rule on medical tax deductions (which sort of make sense because FSAs and HSAs allow you to buy things with pre-tax dollars).    The rule on diapers is that they are allowable as long as they are for some medical condition (essentially, anything other than normal infancy).    In practice, the IRS has decided that diapers fall into the class that nobody would use unless they had a medical need (unlike things like vitamins) so they don't require any specific proof (prescription) before you can use it.   However, that's not to say that certain FSA or HSA administrators don't insist on such.  

[deewet]

Thank you for stating the obvious, but that was not my point. 

To take another pass at this, the point is can diapers be covered by Medicare ( I believe Medicaid covers these) or a before tax program after retirement and leaving private insurance and private sponsored FSA/HSA programs.

I don't know how to do a self administered FSA/HSA program or even if that's possible.  I do know very well already the limits of what Medicare and the Medicare supplements cover and all the things I took for granted in past that are not covered with PartB, PartD, and supplement which cost much more that what I  had when still working.  

I will say again, anyone that believes Medicare is better than a decent private health plan is simply fooling themselves.  Even more reveling, why are so many rural hospitals and care facilities failing that have become more dependent on Medicare and Medicaid patients as the population ages and others are forced into these programs?

[willnotwill]

Quote

Thank you for stating the obvious, but that was not my point.

I don't know where the attitude comes from.   But I was trying to answer the original poster's question and yours at the same time.

There's no such thing as a self-administered FSA.   You have to be an employee of a company that provides one.

You can set up your own HSA, but you are only eligible if you are a subscriber to a high deductible health plan.   This is probably unlikely if you're at the medicare stage.

Medicare was never intended to be a better health plan (and I certainly never even intimated that). any more than Social Security was designed to replace other retirement planning. If it was, there'd be no business i providing the supplemental plans.   Medicare is a safety net for a large quantity of people who would be difficult to insure by private plans.

But I can also tell you, that I've never been a subcriber to a plan (and having worked for the federal and state government and various large employers, I have been eligible for top notch ones) that covered diapers either.   Durable Medical Equipment yes, but not random supplies.   HSA/FSAs are not health plans, they're accounts to allow you not to be taxed on medical spending.

[diaperguy85]

i spent my fsa at northshore and llmedico last xmas, and plan to again this year!

i simply used the debit card to order, got everything in and kept the invoices incase they had any questions and contacted me. no word yet, so i'm assuming everything was fine and dandy  

[Menaiya]

As long as you are ordering them from a reputable vendor and can show the reciepts. There is a web site you can view for eligible expenses.

https://www.fsafeds.com/explore/hcfsa/expenses?q=incontinence.

They are eligible without required documentation, just a detailed receipt. Check this website frequently.

[babypat80]

Awesome, thanks everybody for your responses.

1 hour ago, Menaiya said:

As long as you are ordering them from a reputable vendor and can show the reciepts. There is a web site you can view for eligible expenses.

https://www.fsafeds.com/explore/hcfsa/expenses?q=incontinence.

They are eligible without required documentation, just a detailed receipt. Check this website frequently.

Really appreciate the help.  Regarding reputable vendors, I often times prefer to just buy them in public at places like CVS/Walgreens as I enjoy a little bit of embarrassment (provided that I'm among strangers).   That's one of the advantages I anticipate if I end up using an FSA card - makes it more obvious that they're for me and not somebody under my care. 

Of course, when I'm after anything of decent quality I typically order online.

[deewet]

Sorry if I came across with my comments indicating an attitude towards others on this space, but that was not my intention.  

If I seemed upset, it was because of the limits put on us by our govt programs going into retirement, and expecting to get a good health care product based on all the adverts out there, only to find it is very restrictive, short a lot of benefits we were used to while working,  and very expensive to boot even after paying for it all these years in tax withholdings.

My righteous concern, was if anyone knew of a way to do a FSA/Hsa as a private individual so that my taxable income can be shrunk allowing to pay for these medical needs like it is when working?  I am in one of the few states that looks at social security as taxable income again, so anything that I can do that is allowed would be helpful.

[willnotwill]

As I stated, there's no such thing as a self-administered FSA.   It has to be an employer benefit.

You can contribute and spend from an HSA, but only if you are a subscriber to a High Deductible Health Plan.   If you subscribe to that plan, you almost certainly got contacted about HSAs because nearly every insurance company that offers one has a spin off "bank" that offers them.    For example, United HealthCare has Optum Bank (but Optum will gladly set up an account for you even if you're insured elsewhere).    Neat thing about an HSA is it's not a use or lose thing like the FSA.   You can roll forward your HSA money if you don't spend it and even draw it out after you get to retirement age if you don't need it for medical stuff.

If neither of the above applies to you, you can take a medical deduction on your taxes if you itemize.    However, you only get your taxable income reduced by the medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI.

 No matter which of the above may be available to you, diapers to treat any condition (other than normal infancy) are an allowable expense.      As I've stated, the IRS doesn't consider that there would be a non-compliant use for adult diapers, so they don't require any further documentation other than your usual record keeping/receipts you'd do for any tax deduction.    (This is opposed to things that have dual use, like vitamins.    Normally you can deduct or use HSA/FSA funds for vitamins, unless your doctor prescribes them for some specific medical condition).

 

[Alex Bridges]

On 10/4/2020 at 8:03 PM, babypat80 said:

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if this has been asked previously (I imagine it has), but I was wondering if people in this group use an FSA account to purchase diapers.  I don't think insurance coverage is an option since my understanding is that you can only get them through medicaid and I have a separate policy.  If you do use an FSA, were you required to provide an incontinence diagnosis first?  I don't technically have one, although I have notes about "bladder urgency" and "spinal injury" in my record dating as far back as 2010.  I imagine I could get my doctor to help me out.

Here's a dumb follow-up question:  My employer will know what I'm spending the money on, correct?  It's not the end of the world, I just work for a large company where most people know me, and I would rather not have the state of my continence be public knowledge.   Especially since I'm most likely going to be buying women's incontinence supplies the majority of the time.  Obviously I assume it's strictly forbidden for the FSA admin to share any of this info, but I suppose it could get around to HR people, etc.

I actually haven't set up an FSA in many years despite having the option to do so.  For those of you who use them, do you typically carry an FSA card?  Or just submit receipts at the end of the year for reimbursement?

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, you can spend FSA money on diapers. I do.

No, you don’t need to show a diagnosis. It’s enough that you’re spending it on medical supplies (even if your use of them is not medicinal). You just need to submit a receipt with your FSA claim. The product name should be enough for a successful claim. It can even come from Amazon, though a receipt from a store with a medical sounding name might get approved an hour faster, as if that matters. I’ve seen Amazon product pages that specifically say “Using an FSA? Click Here.”

No, your employer won’t know what you’re buying. Employers don’t manage the FSA themselves. A vendor company like an insurer does that for them, and privacy laws prevent them from sharing any information about your purchase with your employer. Even if your company managed the FSA themselves, which is only true for very, very large companies, the admin still couldn’t share the information. It wouldn’t surprise me if your claims don’t even have your name on them and the reviewer just sees an account number.

I max out my FSA every year. It pays for my diapers as well as medical care. I don’t use an FSA card because you still have to submit the receipts to get the claim processed. Sure, the FSA card means it’s not coming out of your bank account, but I submit my claims pretty promptly (you don’t have to wait until the end of the year) and don’t miss the money while waiting for the direct deposit. It only takes a few days from my submission to approval.

I had a lot of medical and dental issues this year. Between those and a couple month’s worth of diapers, I spent my FSA by May. That works out to about $800 in savings than if I had use after-tax dollars. Well worth the trouble.