Children's Health Defense By
For the first time in history, the IRS is weighing in on “the degree to which doctors should be recommending … food and exercise” to their patients, said health advocate Calley Means.
In an appearance on the “RFK Jr Podcast,” Means discussed a March 6 IRS “reminder” warning that people who use health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) will no longer be able to deduct “nutrition, wellness and general health” expenses — even if a doctor provides a note recommending them — unless they are “related to a targeted diagnosis-specific activity or treatment.”
Gym memberships can count as a medical expense only if recommended by a doctor for the sole purpose of treating an injury or a specific medical condition like obesity or hypertension, according to The Washington Post, which reported on the IRS alert.
Means told Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Children’s Health Defense chairman on leave, that the IRS policy would make the childhood health crisis in America even worse by prioritizing pharmaceutical interventions over nutrition and wellness.
Means, co-founder of Truemed, a company that helps people leverage tax-advantaged HSA and FSA funds for “food, exercise, or supplement interventions [that] can prevent or reverse disease,” said the IRS alert sets a higher bar for using these accounts for preventive measures, such as healthy food and fitness, than it does for drugs such as Ozempic, a popular weight-loss medication.
“The IRS is literally saying it is easier and clearer and [will bring] less scrutiny … to get a prescription for Ozempic than to work with your doctor to get a detailed food/supplement/exercise plan,” he said.
Before the IRS issued this latest alert, it had routinely allowed HSA and FSA funds to be used “for exercise, for dietary intervention, for supplements to reverse or prevent conditions” if a doctor “know[s] how to write” the plan, Means said.
“The law is that … if you’re prediabetic, if you’re dealing with heart issues … [or] obesity, you can actually get a medical letter from your doctor with a detailed dietary plan,” he said…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… (childrenshealthdefense.org)
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