health spending accounts

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gadawgs8000

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  1. Diaper Lover
  2. Incontinent
I signed up for a health spending account for this year! I was wandering if anyone knows or uses it for incontinence supplies. I looked up my plan and it doesn't say anything about diapers
 
I'm not sure you should be using your HSA money on this. If you need it because you are incontinent and have a legitimate medical reason for needing diapers, I believe it is covered. Anything medical should be covered with HSA dollars, However, if you are wanting to buy diapers because you enjoy them just to wear them without a physical need or reliance for them (physiological reasons don't count I don't believe) then I don't think that is the best idea. You may have to submit receipts and there will be records of the expense for the bank. Probably best to just buy your diapers using regular methods. But that's just my opinion...
 
gadawgs8000 said:
I signed up for a health spending account for this year! I was wandering if anyone knows or uses it for incontinence supplies. I looked up my plan and it doesn't say anything about diapers

Someone might count that as "(medical) insurance fraud" if they found out it was a "want" and not a "need"

do not recommend
 
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Okay was just wandering if it qualified not looking for fraud!!
 
Fsa

gadawgs8000 said:
Okay was just wandering if it qualified not looking for fraud!!

You can use the Flexible Spending Account for this...at least in my case, Incontinence products were listed in the miscellaneous. I also ad my doctor write me a prescription in case.

As others have said, if you are purchasing diapers specifically as a fetish, I would not recommend it. I use them for nighttime and help for anxiety/OCD myself and they help greatly.
 
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I guess I will talk to my dr then, I think I was misunderstood! Yes I wear for anxiety and became a dl because of this! Thanks for all the advice! I just saw that I could use on medical expenses and wasn't sure if diapers were covered
 
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As long as it is for a medical need, it should be alright.

Some HSA carriers do have different 'ideas' so it may be prudent to contact them to be sure diapers are covered or just go ahead and submit the receipt.

If you have a doctor's prescription or letter, then you have a better time convincing them to reimburse you.
 
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Mew Jersey only permits HSA's for married couples with children. Bummer really, I looked into them back when I first got health insurance in 2008. I thought it was a federal law, but apparently States can set their own guidelines.
 
gadawgs8000 said:
I signed up for a health spending account for this year! I was wandering if anyone knows or uses it for incontinence supplies. I looked up my plan and it doesn't say anything about diapers

Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account?

They're different.


I have a HSA to supplement my lousy high deductible health plan my work offers us. I use it for diapers.

At tax time, you get a form 1099-Somthing and it lists your withdrawal total....turbotax asks if all that withdrawn amount was used for medical expenses. I say "yes". I'm incontinent and my diapers are a need, not a want.

I've never had a problem using it like this.
 
I had a flexible spending account at my last job and they didnt care what you used it for as long as it was considered a health item, some things actually say HSA/FSA eligible right on the package. Also the only amount you will have in the account is what they deduct from your paycheck to put into the account so even if it were not legitimate its your money you set aside for healthcare expenses which includes diapers. unless something has changed in the last 5 years or so that I had it.
 
Bought several cases last year on mine, and one this year already. Most from ABU. It could be counted as fraud I suppose, but it is very unlikely to even be looked into. Not telling you what to do, but I will continue to buy my diapers with them. Savings are savings.
 
A mental need is no less important than a physical need. And yes you can purchase anything remotely medical related on a hsa. This goes for band aids, qtips, and even diapers.
 
Slomo said:
A mental need is no less important than a physical need. And yes you can purchase anything remotely medical related on a hsa. This goes for band aids, qtips, and even diapers.


no. sorry but no. People who actually need diapers have a need on a level that is not comparable to your fetish desires.
 
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Slomo said:
A mental need is no less important than a physical need. And yes you can purchase anything remotely medical related on a hsa. This goes for band aids, qtips, and even diapers.

I would not agree that this is an absolute. Just like "needing" a $50,000 wheelchair when a $200 set of crutches would do, what a person needs in the way of mental needs is very subjective. That's some of the reason doctors write prescriptions, to verify the level of need meets or exceeds some standard. In some cases, a psychiatrist may need to give a nod to a mental need if you want insurance to pay for it.

Diapers are an interesting issue because they have a plain, obvious, well-known assistance to a physical (/medical) need, as well as a less known but still not terribly uncommon mental need. I think misrepresenting your need to "game" the system isn't honest. If your need is mental rather than physical, represent it as such. If they allow it, ok. If not, use your own nickel. Insurance is for a specific thing, for a specific reason.
 
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DinosaurWalk said:
without a physical need or reliance for them (physiological reasons don't count I don't believe)

Just a small (actually kind of a large) nitpick, but I think you mean to say "psychological" not "physiological" there based on your context. A "physiological reason" would be someone is physically unable to hold their urine or bowels and can't control when they go. "physiological" means "relating to body part functions." Physiological needs are very much covered by medical insurance. (example: I'm fecally incontinent, thus I have a physiological reason for wearing diapers.)

Though I think you mean "psychological" which would be the person wanting to wear diapers even though they aren't physically incontinent.


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However what Slomo said above is correct. You can buy anything medical related on an HSA (with the exception of over the counter drugs without a prescription, health club memberships, and cosmetic surgery (which FSAs are allowed to allow (but usually don't either)). They are similar to FSAs in that regard. There are other distinct differnces, but the "what can you buy with it" part is basically the same. Exceptions to that can depend on the provider though but that is the standard differences.

Making an insurance claim for diapers is a very different story. But HSAs, FSAa, and HRAs are legally the employees own money that they put in there in the first place. There are many restriction on what providers of those can limit being purchased directly off (tax free access). But they can never deny you the money on there if you want it, you'll just get taxed for anything you take back out of it without being a direct qualifying medical expense.

You won't be able to make an insurance claim for diapers though unless you have an Rx. Pretty much all insurance providers will require a doctor's prescription for any claims on DME (Durable Medical Equipment (it's just the name for medical equipment even if it isn't "Durable" I don't get it either)) which is what diapers are considered. At BCBSMN I did "provider services" (ie. Doctor would call me ask if the patient is covered for x and I would tell them the details of the patients covereage regarding x). We got diaper DME checks often from physical therapists and part of the quoting was to tell them that they were covered with a valid Rx only from a certain set of doctor types.

Source: I'm a former employee of both Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota as well as of Mutual of Omaha, both in departments related to needing this knowledge.
 
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First, it's Health SAVINGS Account, and it covers anything medical related including bandaids, aspirin, etc. Baby diapers are not covered but adult incontinence supplies are medical products. Here's the clincher; unlike an HRA, with an HSA, the regulations are in the contributions. You need to be in a high deductible insurance plan to contribute. Once the money is there, it's yours and you can spend it anytime, even if you no longer qualify to contribute. YOU decide if the expense qualifies and the banks snd insurance companies don't ask for substanciation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ClickyKeys said:
----

However what Slomo said above is correct. You can buy anything medical related on an HSA (with the exception of over the counter drugs without a prescription, health club memberships, and cosmetic surgery (which FSAs are allowed to allow (but usually don't either)). They are similar to FSAs in that regard. There are other distinct differnces, but the "what can you buy with it" part is basically the same. Exceptions to that can depend on the provider though but that is the standard differences.

Making an insurance claim for diapers is a very different story. But HSAs, FSAa, and HRAs are legally the employees own money that they put in there in the first place. There are many restriction on what providers of those can limit being purchased directly off (tax free access). But they can never deny you the money on there if you want it, you'll just get taxed for anything you take back out of it without being a direct qualifying medical expense.

You won't be able to make an insurance claim for diapers though unless you have an Rx. Pretty much all insurance providers will require a doctor's prescription for any claims on DME (Durable Medical Equipment (it's just the name for medical equipment even if it isn't "Durable" I don't get it either)) which is what diapers are considered. At BCBSMN I did "provider services" (ie. Doctor would call me ask if the patient is covered for x and I would tell them the details of the patients covereage regarding x). We got diaper DME checks often from physical therapists and part of the quoting was to tell them that they were covered with a valid Rx only from a certain set of doctor types.

Source: I'm a former employee of both Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota as well as of Mutual of Omaha, both in departments related to needing this knowledge.

This is accurate, and I'm responding primarily to give it extra weight, as ClickyKeys hit all the major points.

Also, I believe, though I'm not certain, that DME came as a way to contrast it with certain types of drugs and other chemicals that spoil. It's durable because there's no (or only a very long) expiration date, whereas things that last for only a short time before spoiling (like vaccination doses) are not durable.
 
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bambinod said:
I would not agree that this is an absolute. Just like "needing" a $50,000 wheelchair when a $200 set of crutches would do, what a person needs in the way of mental needs is very subjective. That's some of the reason doctors write prescriptions, to verify the level of need meets or exceeds some standard. In some cases, a psychiatrist may need to give a nod to a mental need if you want insurance to pay for it.

Diapers are an interesting issue because they have a plain, obvious, well-known assistance to a physical (/medical) need, as well as a less known but still not terribly uncommon mental need. I think misrepresenting your need to "game" the system isn't honest. If your need is mental rather than physical, represent it as such. If they allow it, ok. If not, use your own nickel. Insurance is for a specific thing, for a specific reason.

Except this isn't gaming the system at all. And your wheelchair/crutches comparison would be like comparing depends pullups vs confidry taped diapers. Both of which are still allowed anyways. The government doesn't care how medically necessary an item is (you don't medically need qtips), just as long as it has some sort of link to medical it's ok.
 
Thanks for everyone's advice! I didn't mean for it to be an argument
 
I just know I'm putting a lot into this every two weeks and I was wandering if I could use it to make me feel "normal"
 
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