How to unlock your HSA/FSA funds for Anytime Fitness

Key points:

1. If you have a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and exercise helps your medical condition, your fitness costs may qualify as eligible medical expenses.
2. That doesn’t mean you can just use your HSA/FSA card at your gym checkout or submit receipts to your HSA/FSA administrator for reimbursement. Instead, you’ll need a medical provider to write a Letter of Medical Necessity documenting how exercise is a treatment for your condition.
3. With Dr. B, you can skip the waiting room and take a $15 consultation for a Letter of Medical Necessity online. If you qualify, your provider will email your letter within one day, and you can start getting new Anytime Fitness receipts reimbursed with your HSA/FSA funds.

At Dr. B, we understand that exercise supports general wellness and longevity for some people.

For others, it can help decrease pain, improve mobility, strengthen heart and lung health, ease anxiety—and so much more. So we’re thrilled to make it more convenient for qualifying patients to save on fitness fees with tax-advantaged medical savings accounts.

Anytime Fitness has locations around the country open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So we’re thrilled to help as many patients as possible utilize Anytime Fitness’ personalized health and wellness training, nutrition and recovery guidance—wherever you are and whenever you feel like working it out!

Whether you’re a current member or considering a free pass to a gym near you, learn how you may be able to unlock your HSA/FSA to save on Anytime Fitness with a convenient $15 online consultation.

But first, what exactly is an HSA/FSA account?

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) are two kinds of tax-advantaged savings accounts specific to medical expenses.

They can help you save money in a few ways:

• Any income you deposit into the account gets deducted from your taxable income for the year, so you’ll pay less in taxes come year’s end. 
• Any funds you use from the account to pay for qualified medical expenses will also not count towards your taxable income.
• If your HSA/FSA account incurs interest, that interest will also not be taxed. 

You can open an HSA if you have a high-deductible health insurance plan. Only an employer can organize and offer an FSA as an employee benefit program. Learn more about how to open an HSA or FSA in this Dr. B article.

How to use FSA/HSA for gym memberships and more

According to HSA withdrawal rules specified by the IRS, you can only use your HSA/FSA funds for items and services that support medical health needs. (Think insurance premiums, copays, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, pain relief tools, etc.)

Fitness expenses are not automatically HSA/FSA eligible because exercise can also support your general health and wellness.

To use HSA/FSA dollars for fitness, a licensed provider must write a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) detailing how exercise treats your specific medical condition. Once you have that letter, you can submit it with any exercise receipts (dated on or after the date of your letter) to your HSA/FSA administrator for reimbursement. And if you ever get audited by the IRS, you’ll have proof that you used your HSA/FSA funds correctly.

Learn what else you can pay for with a Letter of Medical Necessity in this Dr. B article.

How to pay for Anytime Fitness with your HSA/FSA

Here’s how to get and use a Letter of Medical Necessity for Anytime Fitness fees.

1. TAKE AN ONLINE CONSULT: Start a Dr. B $15 fitness consultation. Through our online chat, you’ll share a little information about your condition and health history.
2. WAIT FOR REVIEW: A licensed provider will review your consult. If you qualify, they’ll email your Letter of Medical Necessity and instructions.
3. MAKE YOUR PURCHASE: Pay for an Anytime Fitness membership or training fee, and make sure to save your receipts!
4. FILE FOR REIMBURSEMENT: Go to your HSA/FSA administrator’s online claims or reimbursement section. Submit your Letter of Medical Necessity and Anytime Fitness receipts. Wait for them to confirm your submission and transfer funds between your accounts!

Note that you can only file Anytime Fitness receipts dated on or after the date of your letter.

Also, you’ll have to repeat the reimbursement process each time you make a new Anytime Fitness purchase. But you can file new receipts with the same Letter of Medical Necessity dated within 12 months of the letter’s date.

How much can you save on Anytime Fitness with HSA/FSA funds? 

Because you don’t pay income tax on HSA/FSA funds, your Anytime Fitness savings come from what you would have paid towards income tax (had you not used those pre-tax funds). As your tax bracket determines that amount, most people save 20-40% off fitness fees using HSA/FSA funds.