What do reading, writing and arithmetic have to do with your consumer-directed health (CDH) account? You may not know that you can use the funds you’ve been squirreling away in your health savings account (HSA), health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or flexible spending account (FSA) to cover some of the back-to-school expenses that hit all at once this time of year. To mitigate those costs, here are five things you can use your CDH account to pay for now:

1. Vaccinations: Need to get up to date on immunizations before school starts? They’re eligible for reimbursement with an FSA, HSA or HRA*. And when flu season follows, don’t forget you can also use your CDH account for your annual flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone over the age of 6 months should get a flu vaccination each year to build up an immunity to the virus prior to flu season.
2. School and sports physical exams: You can take care of this standard checkup with the funds you’ve saved into your FSA, HSA or HRA*. For children heading back to school or onto a sports field, these annual exams are necessary to assess their physical well-being, build their medical history and gather the necessary paperwork to ensure that they’re up to date on state-required vaccines.
3. Eye exams and corrective eyewear: Speaking of physicals, your child’s physician will likely check their eyesight during their physical. But should he or she need the services of an optometrist or ophthalmologist, you can also turn to your CDH account to cover the cost of both the eye exam and any corrective eyewear, including prescription glasses and contacts.
4. Certain medical and orthopedic supplies: With back-to-school germs and boo-boos (acquired both on playgrounds and sports fields) on the horizon, you’ll be happy to know that you can use your FSA, HSA or HRA* to stock up ahead of time on things like bandages, children’s pain relievers, first-aid kits, lice treatments and thermometers. Likewise, certain orthopedic supplies for student athletes are also eligible for reimbursement, including ankle, knee and back braces/wraps, athletic tape and arch supports.
5. Acne treatments: The most common skin condition in the U.S., acne is extremely prevalent in pre-teens and teenagers especially. Eighty-five percent of people ages 12 to 24 experience at least mild acne. Acne is considered a disease, so the cost of treating it, whether with OTC meds, topical prescriptions, antibiotics or other medicines, qualifies as an eligible expense for CDH account holders.

With the number of active high-deductible healthcare plans (HDHPs) on the rise, CDH accounts are also becoming far more common, as consumers look for ways to take more financial responsibility for their healthcare expenses. This makes it more important than ever to educate consumers about their HSA, HRA or FSA and what expenses can be covered by these accounts.

*If you have an HRA be sure to confim with your administrator that your specific HRA covers these expenses