Strength Training

[SLuskin]

I have a participant who submitted a claim for the gym, along with an Rx for "strength training medically necessary secondary to cervical & lumbar spondylosis". Would you allow that? Thanks.

[GBurns]

I had it accepted as deductible during an audit by the IRS.

Although not done through an FSA it was done under a C Corp section 105 MERP for multiple years.

I also know of more than one case where it was allowed on 1040.

So I cannot imagine why it would not be allowed under an FSA especially with an explicit Rx.

[SLuskin]

Thanks, George. The reason that I hesitated was that the first Rx sent in by her MD had no diagnosis. When I called the office and spoke with the nurse there, she told me there was no diagnosis in her chart at all. So we denied the claim. Then an RX from her Chiropractor came in with the dx, and that's when I posted the message.

[GBurns]

In the cases that I dealt with, all the Rxs were from either an MD or an Orthopedic Surgeon. I am not sure what sort of prescriptions DC can write. It could be that while a DC does not write Rxs for medicines, they can write for MRis etc, but I really do not know, so you might want to check.

[Chaz]

I agree that training expenses can be reimbursable, but you should be careful in reimbursing expenses that are not incurred "but for" the medical condition. For example, gym memberships that were opened before visiting the doctor should not be reimbursed. Also, once the condition has resolved, no more reimbursements should be made. I think a conservative approach would be to require the Rx to set forth a fixed number of sessions.

[JanetM]

I looking up the condition since I had never heard of it. Strength training won't improve it.

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticl.../article96.html

[GBurns]

Not only could I not find any such claim in the article, but it was not really relevant.