Purchases due to allergies

[Ken Davis]

Physician prescribed a bedroom be redone to control allergies. Replaced existing items with wood blinds and non-allergenic pillows, pillowcases, bedsheets, mattress and box springs. May the entire cost be reimbursed from a FSA? Would the answer be different if the existing items were old and ready to be replaced anyway, i.e., only reimburse the excess of the cost of non-allergenic items over the cost of similar-grade standard items?

Thanks,

Ken Davis

Univ. of South Alabama

[papogi]

My thinking is that this would fall under personal use items, meaning that only the amounts which exceed costs of normal items is reimbursable. The cost of non-allergenic pillows which exceed the cost of normal pillows would then be reimbursable since this is being done at the request of a physician. Wood blinds, however, are not special. In fact, $15 vinyl blinds would be just as good as wood blinds at controlling dust. I would not reimburse the cost of wood blinds (which are usually somewhat expensive). Each item should be reviewed, and a determination made whether or not it truly is a “special” item, and different from its corresponding “normal” counterpart.