10 Surprising Things You Can Buy With Your HSA
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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If you have a Health Savings Account (HSA), you may have built up a nice nest egg, especially since HSAs have the ability to roll over from year to year. While it’s perfectly fine (and smart!) to let the funds keep building, there’s also quite a few items that you can use your HSA money on that you might not have known about.
Here are some surprising things you can buy with your HSA money:
1. Sunscreen
Doctors cannot overstress the importance of sunscreen as a tool to help prevent sun damage or even skin cancer. For this reason, it’s an HSA-approved purchase — so long as it has at least SPF 15 and provides broad spectrum protection against UVA/UVB rays.
2. Eye Care (Including Contact Lens Solution)
Healthcare plans infamously do not cover eye care, and vision insurance traditionally doesn’t cover things like contact lens solution. But your HSA money does. You can also use these funds to pay for glasses and contact lenses.
3. Menstrual Care Products
Menstrual health products including tampons, menstrual pads, menstrual cups, and pantyliners are covered by HSA dollars.
4. Condoms/Contraceptives
Not all insurance plans cover 100 percent of the costs of women’s birth control, and none cover the cost of condoms. Fortunately, these expenses can be trimmed just a bit if one uses their HSA funds toward them.
5. Prenatal Vitamins
Bringing a new life into the world requires a great deal of nutrients, and those prenatal vitamins ain’t free. At least you can buy them with your HSA money instead of your post-tax cash.
6. Hot and Cold Packs
Achy after a tough workout? Or perhaps you’re having an arthritis flare-up? Whatever the case may be, you can use your HSA funds to cover hot and cold packs, which can be found at most pharmacies.
7. OTC Meds
Over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol and Benadryl are also covered by one’s HSA earnings. This is a fairly new development, added under the CARES Act in 2020.
8. Kinesiology Tape
This one may be extra surprising to some because kinesiology tape, originally designed for athletes to help recover from and prevent workout injuries, has become such a fad in the cosmetic world — with plenty of beauty influencers demonstrating ways to use the tape to (possibly) combat wrinkles. Your HSA dollars cover it.
9. Pill Boxes
Where to stash all the medications and supplements you need to take? In a pill box, of course. This handy essential is covered by HSA bucks.
10. Quitting Smoking
You won’t get money for quitting smoking, but you can use your HSA money to buy smoking cessation products such as nicotine gum, patches and lozenges that are designed to help you ditch the nasty habit.
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