Chiropractic, Nutritional Support and Flex Spending Accounts

A flexible spending account (FSA) allows individuals with certain employment benefit packages to opportunity to set aside a portion of their earnings to pay for predetermined medical care and expenses. The advantage of the flexible spending account is that the money that is deducted from the employee’s pay, and put into the FSA, is not subject to payroll taxes, which in turn results in substantial payroll tax savings. The largest disadvantage that employees have in regards to the flex spending account, is that funds that are not used by the end of the year are lost. Many refer to this process as the “use it or lose it” rule.

According to fsaeligibleexpenses.net, many individuals often forget about many eligible items that are covered by your flex spending account. Additionally, some individuals attempt to use their flex spending account inappropriately (both intentionally and unintentionally), which can lead to tax issues.

Highlighting the list of approved flex spending account expenses are chiropractic services and nutritional supplementation. Citing fsaeligibleexpenses.net, “chiropractic services are eligible expenses, though the claim and reimbursement process can be somewhat complicated. Many chiropractic services are prepaid and can only be reimbursed as the services are received rather than when they are prepaid. If you have prepaid for chiropractic services, the reimbursement is equal to a fair value of the service provided on a specific visit to the chiropractor. Make sure you ask for your bill to show the value of the service provided on that visit so you can receive the correct amount of reimbursement. While a massage from the chiropractor is eligible for reimbursement, it requires a letter of medical necessity.”

In addition to chiropractic services, nutritional supplements can also be eligible for flex spending accounts. Fsaeligibleexpenses.net further states, “vitamins and similar supplements for general health are typically ineligible. For vitamins to be claimed as an eligible expense, a doctor must state in a letter what the patient’s medical condition is and what specific vitamins are used to treat it. The doctor can then prescribe those vitamins which can be claimed as an eligible expense. Multi-vitamins are never available for reimbursement because they only promote general health, they do not treat a specific condition.”

At The Hayden Institute, many patients are able to take advantage of their flex spending accounts through the chiropractic services, and customized nutritional support programs for their health concerns. Chiropractic care, nutritional supplementation, blood tests, and many other services can benefit from the flexible spending account program.