Does an HSA cover wheelchair parts/accessories?

[funklab]

I've got an HSA at work and I'm not quite sure how it works. I guess maybe I've been traumatized by all the back and forth I get from insurance companies trying to not cover stuff that I really need to live my life, but does anyone know how HSAs work?

Obviously I need to document my expenses with receipts and whatnot, but do I also need to document medical necessity, like having a doctor's order for a new wheelchair back or cushion or tires, which I normally just pay for out of pocket because it's not worth the 20 plus hours I'd have to spend haggling with the insurance company to maybe get it covered.

I just bought a new set of tires and tubes and I'm wondering if I can write that off.

Also, complicating the situation, I'd greatly prefer to not cash out the HSA yet, since it lets me invest anything over $1000 in the stock market. It's like the most tax efficient retirement savings account I have so if I could just save up receipts for 20 years and then cash it out in retirement after getting tons of tax free growth that would be ideal. I just don't want to have a hard drive full of receipts and then find out they get denied because I can't prove medical necessity or some such thing.

Anybody else got experience with HSAs?

Also, this probably isn't the right forum, but it felt weird to put it in the funding/legislation forum. Mods can feel free to move it wherever they feel it fits best.

[funklab]

What would make me the most comfortable, would be if I could submit receipts and get them "approved", but not take the money out until I decide to... but if it was "approved" it would seem to be easier to get the money whenever I wanted.

[SCI-Nurse]

You would need to talk to someone who is very familiar with your HSA. That may be someone in your HR department if this is a HSA linked to your company's insurance plan. When I was working and had an HSA through the VA (federal employee) we could not roll our money over to the next year, so I would put less money into it than you might, since any remaining funds were lost at the end of the year.

(KLD)

[funklab]

It sounds like you had an FSA, not an HSA, KLD. HSA money doesn’t expire.