Background
Expanding dietary supplement coverage in AHCA would allow reimbursement for dietary supplements from Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), up to a cap of $1,000 per year. This legislation, introduced in the House and Senate by Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) as H.R. 1175 and S. 403, respectively, would reinstate their use in covering a broad range of preventive, would reinstate their use in covering a broad range of preventive care options.
Issue
The AHCA currently does not include language to expand coverage for dietary supplements in HSAs and FSAs.
HSAs and FSAs allow participants certain tax benefits for medical expenditures as defined in section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax regulations interpret such expenses as incurred primarily for the “prevention or alleviation of a physical or mental defect or illness.”
Current law allows prescription drugs to be covered by HSA and FSA dollars; however, it does not allow the same treatment for dietary supplements, several dietary ingredients have been FDA-approved for making disease risk reduction health and qualified health claims.
Incentivizing a preventative role for health and wellness disease prevention by establishing tax deductibility for dietary supplements will promote public health and reduce our nation’s out-of-pocket medical expenses. The Health Savings Act would implement these necessary changes to allow families to lead healthier lives, provide more feedom in Americans’ personal healthcare choices, and lower overall healthcare costs.
