Flexible Health Spending Accounts (FSA) are great, but they have one big drawback–they expire at the end of the year. Here’s some good advice on how you can make sure you use every last cent of it.

Use all this year’s money for your necessary treatments!

We suggest you see your primary care physician or chiropractor now and ask for a prescription for massage therapy for a medical condition.

How to use your medical reimbursement account, FSA, or HSA for massage therapy at Balance Orlando:

1. Get a prescription for massage therapy, make sure it lists a real medical condition, and how often massage therapy should be applied. 
2. Visit us at Balance Orlando, 1220 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 32804, and purchase a package of massage therapy treatments. Ask for an itemized invoice, our office staff is happy to provide this for you.
3. Use your prepaid sessions this year!
4. Either you used your FSA or HSA card to pay for the package, or you will send the receipt to be reimbursed by your reimbursement account. 

More information about how these accounts work:

FSAs and health reimbursement accounts cover massage therapy only if it is a medical treatment for a specific problem, not if it is to relieve general tension.

Medical conditions and health concerns that are proven to be relieved by massage therapy are carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression, and any type of pain, including orthopedic and non-orthopedic conditions.

Especially in the wake of the opiod crisis, official recommendations for physicians have changed. Here is an example from the American College of Physicians, explicitly asking medical doctors to prescribe massage therapy for back pain. You can find the actual guidelines here if you need to convince your physician.  

You can also read this enlightening article about how the efficacy of manual therapy as in massage was proven.

In general, you might be able to use your FSA for a lot more than you thought possible. Here is a big list.