Your FSA Now Covers Advil and Tampons
Here’s a nice surprise for your wallet: CARES Act , known primarily as the main piece of legislation on the fight with the coronavirus, also includes some changes that make it easier to pay for a wide range of medical services.
If you have a flexible expense account (FSA), you can now use those funds to pay for over-the-counter OTC drugs and menstrual care products, including pads, tampons, cups, and inserts.
The FSA allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars for health-related expenses. Their benefits were already pretty broad: FSA money could be spent on admission fees and on everything from acupuncture treatments to over-the-counter pain relievers (provided they were prescribed by a doctor), eyeglasses and sunscreen. But menstrual products were eliminated until the CARES Act.
If you have a high deductible health plan and a Health Savings Account (HSA), you can now also use your HSA funds to buy menstrual products. CARES also empowers you to save money with HSA so that you can use your pre-tax funds to pay for over-the-counter OTC drugs for those drugs.
The beauty of HSAs is that you can take them with you throughout your career, although your options for spending are more limited than with FSA. HSA qualified medical expenses include medical care, vision and dentistry, prescription drugs and insurance costs, and now over-the-counter drugs and menstrual products. The FSA allows you to use your funds for a wider range of goods, but you won’t be able to take your account with you if you get a new job. Both the FSA and HSA have contribution limits.
Unless you’re starting a new job or purchasing insurance, you probably won’t be able to sign up for one of these plans until you renew your open enrollment in the fall. But if you already have an FSA or HSA, be aware of these new eligible shopping categories.