Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Now Qualifies as a Medical Expense
On Friday March 26th, The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released an Announcement 2021-7 that Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) qualifies as medical expenses under section 213(d).
These items are now eligible for payment or reimbursement under Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Health Savings Accounts.
PPE expenses include items such as, but not limited to the below:
– Face Masks
– Hand Sanitizer
– Sanitizing Wipes
The Difference Card will automatically update plans in our system to accommodate reimbursement of PPE eligible items.
Once the inventory information approval system (IIAS) for merchant certification is updated to include SKUs for the newly eligible products, members will be able to use their Difference Cards for purchase. In the meantime, members can submit manual claims to be reimbursed for these items.
Any claims incurred for the period beginning on or after January 1st, 2020 are eligible. Members may submit a previous claim with a receipt for the eligible expense, using The Difference Card Mobile App or online member portal.
Key Takeaways
- The IRS released Announcement 2021-7 (Friday, March 26) stating that Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) qualifies as a medical expense under section 213(d).
- PPE items are eligible for payment or reimbursement under Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
- Examples of qualifying PPE include face masks, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes (among other similar items).
- The Difference Card will automatically update plans in its system; once the IIAS merchant certification is updated with SKUs, members can use their Difference Cards at merchants, but in the meantime members can submit manual claims via the mobile app or online portal.
- Any claims incurred on or after January 1, 2020 are eligible, and members may submit prior claims with receipts for reimbursement.
