Lodging at a Medical Conference: FSA Eligibility

What is lodging at a medical conference?

Medical conferences are gatherings to disseminate medical knowledge as a form of continuing education for professionals in the healthcare industry. Industrial conferences have to be hosted in locations that can logistically support the number of attendees, products or equipment that must be demonstrated, and are accessible to the anticipated audience, who are expected to travel. Medical conferences commonly entail lodging in order to participate in multiple days' worth of activities, panels, etc.

Lodging for medical conferences is not considered an eligible expense for any consumer-directed healthcare account. There are several types of expenses which are eligible for reimbursement with a consumer-directed healthcare account, such as admission and transportation to a medical conference. In that particular case, the reason for attending the conference must pertain to a medical condition or chronic illness suffered by the account holder, the account holder's spouse, or the account holder's dependent. Another requirement is that the majority of the time spent at the conference must be spent attending sessions which include medical information regarding the medical condition or chronic illness. These standards for eligibility only pertain to medical conference costs such as admission and transportation. Lodging is never an eligible expense. Meals are also never eligible.

Medical conferences may contain information on specific treatments, technologies, studies of specific chronic diseases or medical conditions, and more. Medical conferences may have information presented through panels, talks, demonstrations, etc. which are relevant to professionals in the healthcare industry, or to patients and recipients, or both.