Illegal Operations and Treatments: FSA Eligibility

What are illegal operations and treatments?

Consumer-directed healthcare account holders who seek out treatment for a medical condition will typically visit a hospital, outpatient clinic or doctor's office for consultations, operations and other forms of therapy, the payment for which can easily be processed by benefits administrators and reimbursed through these accounts. However, in some cases, whether a person is facing a terminal illness or wants to go outside the mainstream medical world, they may consider illegal operations and treatments as a solution to alleviate their conditions.

Seeking out illegal operations and treatments is against federal law and could result in jail time, not to mention the inherent risks that patients will take by receiving treatments that are not U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved or have gone through extensive clinical trials to ensure that they are safe. Whether they are for the treatment of a major illness or another condition, the medical community strongly discourages patients from seeking out illegal operations and treatments. As such, these operations are never eligible for reimbursement with consumer-directed healthcare accounts.