HSA Qualified Expenses

Below is a list of expenses that you can use your Health Savings Account funds to pay for.

This list is based on the 2011 HSA rules contained in IRS Publication 969, and the 2011 list of qualified medical expenses contained in IRS Publication 502.

Download IRS Publication 502 here (PDF format)
Download IRS Publication 969 here (PDF format).

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Medical Expenses That Qualify as HSA Funds

Abortion

Your HSA funds can be used to pay for the cost of a legal abortion.

Acupuncture

Alcoholism

Your HSA can be used to pay for costs related to in-patient treatment for alcohol dependence, including the cost of meals and lodging. You can also use it to pay for the cost of transportation to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, provided you have received medical advice that membership in Alcoholics Anonymous is necessary for the treatment of any disease involving alcohol abuse.

Ambulance Services

Artificial Limbs

Artificial Teeth

Bandages

Birth Control Pills

Body Scan

You can include in medical expenses the cost of an electronic body scan.

Braille Books and Magazines

You can use your HSA to pay for the difference in cost between Braille books and magazines and printed books and magazines, provided the books and magazines are purchased for use by a visually impaired person.

Breast Pumps and Supplies

You can include in medical expenses the cost of breast pumps and supplies that assist lactation.

Breast Reconstruction Surgery

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of breast reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy to treat breast cancer.

Capital Expenses

“Capital expenses” include home improvements or special equipment installed in your home, provided their main purpose is medical care. See the Capital Expenses Worksheet in IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Car

You can use HSA funds to pay for special equipment installed in a car for use by a person with a disability.

Chiropractor Services

Christian Science Practitioners

Contact Lenses

You can use your HSA to pay for contact lenses, as well as materials related to the use of contact lenses

Crutches

Dental Treatment

Diagnostic Devices

You can use your HSA to pay expenses related to diagnosing or treating an illness.

Disabled Dependent Care Expenses

You can use your HSA to pay for medical care related to your dependents. You may also choose to take a tax credit for this care as a work-related expense — but you may not claim both.

Drug Addiction

Your HSA can be used to pay for costs related to in-patient treatment for drug dependence, including the cost of meals and lodging.

Eye Surgery

Eyeglasses

Your HSA can be used to pay for eyeglasses, as well as the cost of eye exams.

Fertility Enhancement Hospital Services

Guide Dog or Other Animal

You can use your HSA to pay the cost of buying, training, and maintaining a guide dog or other animal related to a physical disability.

Health Institute

Your HSA can be used to pay for the cost of treatment at a health institute, provided that treatment has been prescribed by a physician. That physician will need to provide a written statement affirming that the care received was necessary to treat a physical or mental disability or illness.

Hearing Aids

Home Care

Home Improvements

You can use your HSA to pay for home improvements related to medical care. For more information, see “Capital Expenses” in IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Hospital Services

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of hospital care, including meals and lodging.

Insurance Premiums

Your HSA funds can only be used to pay insurance premiums for long-term care coverage, health coverage while you receive unemployment benefits, and health continuation coverage received under federal law (such as COBRA coverage).

Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled, Special Home for

You can include in medical expenses the cost of keeping a person who is intellectually and developmentally disabled in a special home, not the home of a relative, on the recommendation of a psychiatrist to help the person adjust from life in a mental hospital to community living.

Laboratory Fees

Lead-Based Paint Removal

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of removing lead-based paint provided you have a child who has or has had lead poisoning, the paint is peeling, and the paint is within reach of the child.

Learning Disability

Legal Fees

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of legal fees related to authorizing treatment for a mental illness.

Lifetime Care

You can use your HSA to make part of an advance payment for care in a retirement home. For more information, see “Lifetime Care — Advance Payments” in IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Lodging

You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals and lodging at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to receive medical care.

Long-Term Care

You can use your HSA to pay for long-term care services, as well as the premiums paid for a long-term care insurance policy.

Meals

You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of meals that are not part of inpatient care.

Medical Conferences

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of attending a medical conference, provided the conference is related to a chronic illness that you, your spouse, or a dependent has. Meals and lodging during the conference can not be paid for by your HSA funds.

Medical Information Plan

You can use your HSA funds to pay for the cost of using an electronic medical system to store and transfer your medical records.

Medicines

You can use your HSA funds to pay for the cost of prescription drugs. You can also use your HSA funds to pay for non-prescription (“over-the-counter”) drugs. However, with the exception of insulin, the IRS does not consider non-prescription drugs to be a medical expense that qualifies for a tax deduction. For more information, see “Medicines” in IRS Publication 502 (PDF) and “Qualified medical expenses” in IRS Publication 969 (PDF).

Nursing Home

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of nursing home care, meals, and lodging, provided the primary reason for being in the nursing home is to receive medical care.

Nursing Services

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of nursing care, including wages and related expenses. For more information see “Nursing Services” in IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Operations

You can use your HSA to pay for operations, except for medically unnecessary cosmetic surgery.

Optometrist Services

Osteopath Services

Oxygen

You can use your HSA services to pay for oxygen and related equipment, provided the oxygen is used to treat breathing problems caused by a medical condition.

Physical Examination

You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for an annual physical examination and diagnostic tests by a physician. You do not have to be ill at the time of the examination.

Pregnancy Test Kit

You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay to purchase a pregnancy test kit to determine if you are pregnant.

Prosthesis

Psychiatric Care

Psychoanalysis

Psychologist

Special Education

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of tutoring a child with learning disabilities caused by a physical or mental impairment, provided such tutoring has been recommended by a doctor.

Sterilization

Stop-Smoking Programs

You can use your HSA to pay for the costs of participating in a smoking-cessation program. Note that you can not use your HSA to pay for non-prescription smoking-cessation drugs, such as nicotine patches or nicotine gum.

Surgery

Telephone

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of installing special telephone equipment related to a hearing impairment.

Television

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of installing special television equipment related to a hearing impairment.

Therapy

You can use your HSA to pay for therapy received as part of a medical treatment.

Transplants

You can use your HSA to pay for any expenses related to your being a donor or potential donor of an organ. This includes transportation.

Transportation

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of transportation related to receiving medical care.

Trips

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of a trip provided the purpose of that trip is primarily to receive medical care. For more information, see “Trips” and “Lodging” in IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Vasectomy Services

Vision Correction Surgery

Weight-Loss Programs

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of a weight-loss program, provided your participation in that program is part of a treatment for a specific medical condition diagnosed by a physician. For more information, see “Weight-Loss Program” in IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Wheelchair

Wig

You can use your HSA to pay for the cost of a wig, provided a physician has recommended the purchase as beneficial to a patient who has lost their hair as part of a medical condition.

X-rays

The Internal Revenue Service also maintains a list of medical expenses that do not qualify for HSA funds. For more information, refer to IRS Publication 502 (PDF).

Learn more about Health Savings Accounts here.

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