Hi, all.
I was wondering if any of you had used Flexible Spending Account monies to purchase a latex bed. I’ve read the restrictions and it seems as though there is a grey area on whether this is allowed or not. There’s one latex bed website that has a print-out prescription that you can get your chiropractor or allergist to sign, and they promise to do the rest of the paper work. What are your thoughts about this?
Hi BigPhi84,
Publication 502 (2011), Medical and Dental ExpensesI have no specific knowledge of this. My DH had a flex spend account when she was teaching and we did some research into what was allowed to decide on the amount that whe would likely use but I don’t remember seeing anything or researching about mattresses. In general, my understanding is that if it is allowed as a medical deduction according to then it would be allowed. My thoughts would be that it would depend on the legitimacy of the medical need and my “gut” says that a “normal” latex bed would probably not qualify.
If they are having success though then they would know more than me and who’s to argue with results … although I would still question whether it would pass some kind of audit if the legitimate medical need and prescription wasn’t really valid. There would be a lot of people buying latex mattresses before they lost their funds if this was the case :).
I would probably ask a tax expert or the people who run your plan who could “interpret” any grey areas like this to get a definitive answer though.
My best answer is “I have my doubts but I don’t know for sure”. I think the laws regarding a “prescription” to eliminate the fire retardant barrier would likely be a little more lax than the laws regarding flex spend plans.
Phoenix