Flexible Spending Plans

I received reimbursement for my year's supply of vitamins from my flexible spending plan. Just wanted to share what finally worked for me.

I set aside $1,200 for 2014 just for vitamins and ordered all of them on 1/1/14. I submitted all my receipts along with my Letter of Medical Necessity. They denied all my claims because the LOMN wasn't sufficent. Turns out they need to know what you had done, why you had it done, why you need the supplements, and a specific list of the supplements. Of course, they never came out and said all those things at once -- each time they would tell me it needed one more thing.

After going back and forth with them with 3-4 different versions of the letter, they finally approved my claims. I've already been reimbursed for the entire $1,200. Here's the language they finally approved:

Ms. ________ (DOB ______) had the duodenal switch procedure for the treatment of obesity in 2013. Because she now malabsorbs nutrients, she will require lifelong nutritional supplements, including multivitamin, minerals, and trace elements.

These include:

Vitamins A, D, E, K
Vitamins B, B-Complex, C
Calcium, Copper, Zinc, Magnesium

My doctor's office included EVERYTHING....protein shakes, probiotics, devrom, biotin, omega 3, etc.  It worked for me. 

Thank you very much for posting this.  I copied it down and put it in my DS file.  This is a wonderful way to save money.

I dont understand can i use this on my taxes or some thing, im having the surgery in 2 weeks, so maybe should i save the receipts for next year 2015 perhaps, or 2014 taxes, thanks in advance

Great information. If they will reimburse it thru a flexible spending account, you should be able to claim it on your taxes. You will need to get your letter FIRST, and then spend your money and claim on your taxes. The IRS will likely not allow you to go back and get the letter after you incurred the costs. They are just "funny" about those things.

There is a new medical amount that you can claim on your taxes. For the last 20+ years, you could deduct anything over 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. The number is now 10 percent. Of course, anything you get reimbursed for in a flexible spending account is not eligible to be included in the amount you can deduct.

They raised it to 10 percent?!! Waaaaah!!

Is this for 2013 spending? I was hoping to deduct what I had to spend for my surgery. Now it's going to be nearly impossible, I'm sure.

Yeah. They raised it for the 2013 tax year. I think its going to take a lot of people by surprise. There are some exceptions if you are over 65.

I finally have substantial medical expenses to deduct and they snatch it away. Those jerks! Hehe

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf

There's the official publication.

yes I have a letter of medical necessity for my vitamins, the only thing different in my letter is the treatment date, they like from blalal to blbalbalb, and the cpt codes, never had any problems with it, been doing it for years, and if you dont have a FSA you can write it off your taxes, it you can come up with the IRS minimum....