HSAs and FSAs are tax-advantaged accounts that let you pay for qualified medical expenses with pre-tax dollars. This means you keep more of your money compared to paying out of pocket with regular income.
Most people use them for co-pays, prescriptions, and doctor visits. But for qualified customers, Truemed also enables HSA/FSA spending on products like fitness equipment, supplements, and sleep technology when supported by a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) from a licensed clinician.
An HSA is a personal savings account tied to a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). That pairing is a requirement: you can only open and contribute to an HSA if you are enrolled in a qualifying HDHP.
You can contribute via payroll deductions or direct bank transfers.
Contribution limits are adjusted annually by the IRS. Visit irs.gov for the most current figures for your tax year.
An FSA is an employer-sponsored benefit that also lets you pay for qualified medical expenses with pre-tax dollars. Contributions reduce your taxable income and withdrawals for eligible expenses are tax-free, but the FSA works quite differently from an HSA in a few important ways.
The IRS caps individual Health Care FSA elections at $3,400 per year.
Grace periods and carryover rules vary by employer. Check with your HR or benefits coordinator to understand the specific rules for your plan, especially as the end of your plan year approaches.
If you have access to both, you generally cannot contribute to a standard Health Care FSA and an HSA at the same time. There are exceptions for limited-purpose FSAs; see the section below.
Both HSAs and Health Care FSAs cover expenses that qualify as medical expenses under IRS Code Section 213. The IRS defines these as expenses incurred for the “diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease,” or for treatments affecting any structure or function of the body.
Common automatically eligible expenses include:
Some purchases can qualify when a licensed clinician determines the purchase is medically necessary for treating a specific diagnosed health condition. That is exactly what a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) documents to enable purchases like gym memberships, nutritional supplements, saunas, or fitness trackers.
The IRS is explicit that expenses that are “merely beneficial to general health” do not qualify. Eligibility turns on whether there is a documented medical reason tied to a specific condition, not on the product category alone.
Truemed helps qualified customers use their HSA or FSA on purchases like fitness equipment, sleep solutions, supplements, and recovery tools when those purchases are medically appropriate for their health needs.
Here is how it works:
The LMN is what brings these purchases into IRS compliance under Section 213. Truemed does not change the rules; it helps you work within them.
For a full walkthrough, see How Truemed Works.
Not all FSAs cover the same expenses. Two common variants are restricted in ways that make them incompatible with Truemed:
If you are not sure which type of FSA you have, check your benefits portal or ask your HR coordinator.
HSAs and FSAs are typically set up through your employer during annual open enrollment. If you missed enrollment or are unsure what is available to you:
If you are enrolled in a High-Deductible Health Plan, you are likely eligible to open an HSA. Some financial institutions and HSA providers also allow individuals to open accounts directly, outside of employer enrollment.
If you are not sure whether your account type is compatible with Truemed, or you have questions about the reimbursement process, we are here to help.