Molekule Group Inc.
07/17/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/17/2024 13:54
Are air purifiers FSA or HSA eligible
The tax-exempt dollars that go into a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) can be used to buy eligible air purifiers and the filters they need, as long as a doctor writes a letter of medical necessity (LMN). Molekule has made this process easier than ever by partnering with Flex. After completing a short questionnaire to determine eligibility, qualifying customers can use their HSA or FSA card directly on Molekule.com, and be issued an LMN within 24 hours.
How do I qualify to use my HSA or FSA dollars for eligible air purifiers?
Who qualifies? Anyone with a medical condition that improved air quality could benefit. That includes anyone with concerns such as:
- Asthma
- Allergies
- Chronic Bronchitis
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Emphysema
- Environmental Allergies
- Heart Disease
- Immune System Disorders
- Lung Cancer
- Mold Exposure
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- Pregnancy
- Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Post-surgery Recovery
- Respiratory Infections
- Sinusitis
- Sleep Apnea
- Smoking and Secondhand Smoke Exposure
Air purifiers can help to reduce the burden of irritants, allergens, and infectious microbes on our lungs. For those of us with respiratory medical issues, breathing purified air can give our lungs, throat, and other body parts a chance to recover from injury or reduce inflammation.
What is a qualified customer?
The IRS oversees HSA and FSA eligibility and dictates that a customer must have a medical condition or disease that they are seeking to treat or manage with Molekule air purifiers and filters. Customers must have documentation that confirms their eligibility, also called a Letter of Medical Necessity, or LMN. Molekule has partnered with Flex to make receiving an LMN quick and easy.
How do I use my HSA/FSA to pay for Molekule products?
At checkout, choose Flex | Pay with HSA/FSA as your payment option. You will be prompted to complete a brief questionnaire to confirm your eligibility to pay with HSA/FSA. From there, enter your HSA or FSA debit card details and complete your checkout as usual. If you don't have your HSA or FSA debit card handy, you can also complete the checkout with a regular credit or debit card. Within 24 hours of your purchase, Flex will email you both a Letter of Medical Necessity as well as an itemized receipt. Keep these documents for your records should your HSA/FSA provider or the IRS require additional documentation.
For additional support, reach out to Molekule customer support.
Are air purifiers FSA and HSA eligible?
Air purifiers can be reimbursed from your FSA or HSA account when accompanied by a letter of medical necessity (LMN) from your doctor. In general, an FSA approved air purifier will be one that your doctor agrees will help with a medical condition made worse by bad air quality or improved by good air quality. Selecting "Flex" as your payment option will expedite this process by prompting you to complete a short questionnaire, after which you'll be issued an LMN within 24 hours, upon confirmation of eligibility.
Outside of Molekule, there are no specific guidelines from the IRS on the performance of an air purifier for it to be a FSA or HSA approved air purifier, so be sure it does the three most important things an air purifier can do- remove particles, toxic gasses, and pathogens. Any FSA or HSA air purifier you buy will ideally have a HEPA filter to capture particles (or other filter that captures more than 99.9% of particles) in addition to a method to remove or destroy gaseous chemicals. Activated carbon or charcoal is the most common additional filter for gasses, and technologies like Molekule's PECO can also add a layer of protection against airborne chemical contaminants. Pathogens travel around in particles and are captured in the same way, but technologies like Molekule's PECO or UV-C sterilization provide an additional active disease-killing step on top of capturing these particles.
What is a letter of medical necessity (LMN)?
A letter of medical necessity is a lot like a prescription from your doctor that describes a service or item you buy that helps to treat, diagnose, or prevent a disease. The IRS maintains a long list of items and services that are FSA eligible on their website here, like meals during a hospital stay or caring for a service animal. They also note what expenses are not FSA eligible, which are typically services or items that would be used anyway, like gym fees or nutritional supplements.
How do I pay for an FSA or HSA eligible Air Purifier?
Molekule makes it easy with the "Flex" payment option at checkout.
- Simply add your desired purifiers and filters to the cart.
- When prompted to subscribe to filter auto-refills, you must select "no thanks" in order to enable the Flex payment option.
- At checkout, under "Payment," select "Flex | Pay with HSA/FSA"
- Complete a short questionnaire to determine eligibility.
- If eligible, enter your HSA or FSA debit card details to complete your checkout.
- Receive your Letter of Medical Necessity, valid for 12 months, via email within 24 hours.
How do I pay for FSA or HSA replacement filters for air purifiers?
When you check out, whether you're purchasing a purifier or replacement filter for your purifier, you'll be prompted to subscribe and save. Unfortunately, at this time Flex is ineligible for subscriptions so you'll have to select "no" at checkout. Because fresh air filters are periodically required for any air purifier to run effectively, you will need to get a new LMN each year to send to the IRS in order to use FSA or HSA dollars to buy replacement filters.