I Had No Idea My HSA Could Pay for All This — Here’s What I Found
- Saving Wiser
- Apr 21
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 23
Like most people, I thought my HSA was basically a backup account for doctor visits and prescriptions.
That's exactly how we used it for years — doctor appointments, dental cleanings, eye exams. The basics. I'd been contributing faithfully, watching the balance grow, feeling vaguely responsible about it. But never thinking much beyond that.
Turns out I was sitting on one of the most powerful tax advantages available to everyday people.
I just didn't know it yet.
How Our HSA Journey Really Started
In early 2026, my husband and I decided to get serious about our health. Not in a vague New Year's resolution kind of way — in a real data, real answers kind of way.
We signed up for Function Health and Superpower Labs. If you're not familiar, these are advanced lab testing services that go well beyond your standard annual physical — we're talking 100+ biomarkers covering everything from hormones and inflammation to nutrient deficiencies and cardiovascular markers.
The results were eye-opening. Our advanced labs revealed underlying health concerns that our regular annual checkups had never flagged. Real numbers have a way of motivating you.
With that data in hand, we got serious about our supplements, fitness, weight, and what we were putting into our bodies. We started making purchases with intention rather than guesswork.
What we didn't realize yet was that most of those purchases could be paid for with money we'd already set aside.
What I Discovered
With new health goals came a lot of new purchases — supplements targeted to our actual lab results, fitness tools, health tracking devices. I wanted to make smarter purchases not just more purchases.
That research led me to Truemed.
And it opened up a whole new world.
Suddenly, I was looking at a list of HSA-eligible items I never knew existed. Not just prescriptions. Not just doctor visits.
Supplements. Wearables. Smart scales. Fitness equipment. Sunscreen. Mattresses. Labs.
Things I was already buying or planning to buy with after-tax dollars.
The more I read, the more I couldn't believe what I'd been missing. Smartwatches — HSA eligible. Smart scale — HSA eligible. The supplements we'd been buying based on our lab results — HSA eligible. The Supergoop sunscreen sitting on my bathroom counter — HSA eligible.
I sat there doing the math. For years, we had been paying full price — with money we'd already paid taxes on — for products that could have been covered with pre-tax HSA dollars.
We had been leaving thousands on the table without knowing it.
What Is an HSA and Why It Matters More Than You Think
Before we go on, here is a quick overview for anyone who isn't fully familiar with how HSAs work.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged account available to people enrolled in a qualifying high-deductible health plan. Here's what makes it uniquely powerful:
The triple tax advantage:
Contributions go in pre-tax — lowering your taxable income
Money grows tax-free while it sits in the account
Withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are completely tax-free
No other account does all three. Not a 401k. Not an IRA. Not a Roth. The HSA is the only true triple-tax-advantage account available to everyday people.
What most people don't know: The IRS defines a qualified medical expense as anything that diagnoses, treats, mitigates, or prevents a physical or mental condition. Find more information from the IRS here. That definition is broader than most people realize — and it gets even broader when you add something called a Letter of Medical Necessity.
What is a Letter of Medical Necessity? An LMN is a document from a licensed healthcare provider that connects a specific product to a documented medical need. With an LMN on file, a purchase that wouldn't normally qualify — such as certain supplements, wearables, or fitness equipment — becomes a qualified medical expense eligible for HSA reimbursement.
Something most people don't realize — there are actually two paths to getting a Letter of Medical Necessity. We've used both.
Path 1 — Your own primary care doctor: Your regular physician can write an LMN directly based on your health history. This is how we got coverage for my husband's smartwatch. Our doctor documented the medical need based on his health history and wrote the letter directly.
Path 2 — Through Truemed: Learn more about Truemed in the next section.
Both paths are legitimate. Both result in the same documentation your HSA administrator needs.
So What Exactly Is Truemed?
Truemed is a platform that connects you with a licensed independent clinician who reviews your health history and determines whether your purchases qualify as medically necessary.
If approved, you receive a Letter of Medical Necessity — an LMN. That document is what transforms an everyday health purchase into a qualified HSA expense under IRS rules.
The process takes only a few minutes. No doctor's appointment. No waiting room. Just a short online health intake reviewed by a licensed provider. If approved, your LMN typically arrives within 1-2 days.
It's completely legitimate. Truemed received independent certification from the Validation Institute in February 2026, confirming the highest level of clinical rigor in the HSA marketplace.
What makes Truemed especially powerful is the breadth of its partner network. They work with over 3,000 brands across virtually every health and wellness category — fitness equipment, supplements, sleep, recovery, nutrition, wearables, and more. Brands you already know and shop. Peloton. AG1. Momentous. Eight Sleep. Nike Strength. ClassPass. And hundreds more.
Click here to find out more.
What We've Actually Used Our HSA For in 2026
Once we understood exactly what was covered by our HSA, we started using it immediately. Here's what we've qualified for so far:
Automatically HSA eligible — no LMN needed:
Labs through Function Health and Superpower
Our Withings smart scale
Sunscreen — yes, really. SPF 15 or higher qualifies automatically under IRS rules
Feminine products
Reading glasses
Medications
Through our primary care doctor with a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN):
My husband's Samsung smartwatch — purchased at Best Buy with a Letter of Medical Necessity from our primary care doctor. The stated reason was to help him manage his weight, overall fitness, and sleep through fitness and heart health tracking. He does have some slightly elevated health issues that made the watch medically eligible versus just normal health tracking.
Through Truemed with a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN):
Thorne iron supplements — backed by documented lab deficiency and family history
Thorne omega-3 — backed by cardiovascular markers from our labs and family history
If you add up the saving from using pre-tax dollars for these items, the savings really adds up.
Then We Stacked Cashback On Top
Once we discovered the HSA angle, we started looking at every purchase differently.
That's when we added another layer — Capital One Shopping. A completely free browser extension that automatically finds cashback offers when you shop online.
On our Supergoop sunscreen — which qualified automatically for HSA reimbursement — we also received 40% cashback offer through Capital One Shopping.
Pre-tax HSA savings plus 40% cashback on a premium product we were buying anyway.
This year, Capital One Shopping alone has saved us $1,500. On top of HSA savings. On purchases we were already making.
Stacking offers incredible savings. Here is the link for Capital One Shopping if you are interesting in check in out: Capital One Shopping
The Investment Stradegy
So far, we have talked about using your HSA for eligible items, but there is another powerful alternative.
Instead of spending your HSA dollars on eligible items today, you can treat it as a long-term investment account. Many HSA providers allow you to invest your balance in funds once you reach a minimum threshold.
This lets your money grow tax-free over time. You can pay for medical expenses out of pocket now, save your receipts, and reimburse yourself later—potentially years down the road—while your HSA continues to compound.
We'll be diving into this subject more in future post.
Conclusion
HSAs are marketed as healthcare accounts. Technically, that's what they are.
But healthcare covers far more ground than most people realize — especially when you're taking a proactive approach to your health rather than just reacting to illness.
The IRS definition of a qualified medical expense — anything that diagnoses, treats, mitigates, or prevents a physical or mental condition — opens up a surprisingly wide range of products when combined with proper documentation.
You don't need to be sick to benefit. You just need to be someone who takes their health seriously and knows the system exists.
We didn't know. Now we do. Now, we are building an entire site to help you save with HSA accounts, cash back rewards, smart shopping, and so much more.
Coming Up On Saving Wiser
This is just the beginning. Coming soon:
Is Truemed actually legit? — We did the research and used it ourselves. Here's the honest truth.
The supplement mistake most people make — and the free app that fixes it
The discovery that saved us even more — how one LMN works at multiple stores
Our complete HSA purchase list this year — every single item, what we paid, what we saved
$2,215 in cashback this year — the exact tools and how to replicate it
Subscribe below so you don't miss any of it.
To smarter savings,
The Team at Saving Wiser
Disclaimer: The information in this post is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered medical or financial advice. I am not a doctor, financial advisor, or tax professional. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement or wellness regimen. HSA eligibility rules vary by plan — always verify with your HSA administrator before making purchases. Truemed eligibility is determined by independent licensed clinicians based on your individual health situation.
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