Disabled Person, expenses for: FSA Eligibility

How are expenses for disabled people reimbursed?

Employees with consumer-directed healthcare accounts like FSAs, HSAs and HRAs through their health care plans can use these benefits to pay for co-payments, deductibles, medications and other miscellaneous health care costs with tax-free funds. By reducing their total take-home pay with monthly deductions, individuals and families effectively save an amount equal to the taxes they would have paid on the money that they have set aside.

Consumer-directed healthcare accounts function in the same way as an insurance plan in many respects, as they can cover the account holder and his/her spouse and eligible dependents for any medical expenses that may arise. If the account holder, spouse or dependent is disabled, he/she may require a wide range of additional care expenses to treat their ailments, overcome their disability and to function. Luckily, these expenses are explicitly eligible for reimbursement through their benefits.

According to the primary IRS regulation that outlines spending under consumer-directed healthcare accounts, under IRC 213(d)(1), "medical care includes amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body." As such, expenses for a disabled person such as medical products, equipment and doctors’ visits are eligible for reimbursement. As always, it's advisable for account holders to check with their benefits administrators before submitting a claim.