Americans with health savings accounts (HSAs) and Health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) would be eligible to spend money on dietary supplements without a doctor’s prescription under bills that have been reintroduced in the House and Senate.
The legislation would expand the term “medical care” in a section of the Internal Revenue Code to “include amounts paid to purchase herbs, vitamins, minerals, homeopathic remedies, meal replacement products, and other dietary and nutritional supplements.” Individuals covered under the health plans could spend up to $1,000 each taxable year on the products above.
Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) introduced the legislation in order to simplify and improve HSAs and FSAs. The bills would make a number of changes such as allowing Medicare enrollees to contribute their own funds to their Medicare Medical Savings Accounts, permitting spouses to make catch-up contributions to the same HSA account, and removing restrictions that bar Native Americans from contributing to their HSAs if they have used the medical services of a tribal organization or the Indian Health Service.
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