I have a question that I am hoping one of my fellow American (for tax reasons) diabetics can help me with - or have an idea of where to look. I participate in a flexible spending account to take pretax money out for medical supplies. This year, they have been rejecting /disallowing my reimbursement claims for lancets, alcohol swabs, and sharps containers. Last year they accepted them and I included these items in my yearly estimate. They say the reason is because they are over the counter.

They seem to follow the same guidelines as the IRS rules for deductible medical expenses, which says that nonprescription drugs (except insulin) and nutritional supplements are disallowed. However it doesn't say that over the counter items which are not drugs are disallowed. These items seem like a legitimate medical expense to me. Has the IRS issued a ruling on these items?

Has anyone had experiences in this area? Or can you suggest a resource where I may be able to find a definitive answer to the question? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Deb

Hey! I answered my own question by searching the whole IRS site...and I was right. This decision was just made this year, in May. For any who are interested, check out:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article...=109652,00.html