4 Ways Your HSA Can Make Your Summer Stress-Free

10 surprisingly fsa and hsa eligible items

Key takeaways:

Taking care of your summer health needs early can save you time, money, and unnecessary worry.
Your HSA covers the basics when it comes to seasonal readiness: sun protection, travel essentials, active lifestyle support, and kids’ care.
Make any additional contributions before shopping, and use HSA Store® tools to stay on budget.

Summer is just around the corner, and that means there’s a lot to look forward to: vacations, pool time, backyard BBQs, and outdoor fun.

With a little planning, you can head into the sunny season relaxed, prepared, and ready to enjoy it to the fullest.

Here are 4 ways your HSA can help tackle your summer health needs.

1. Sun and Skin Protection

Summer brings plenty of opportunities to soak up the rays—whether it’s beach trips, community pool time, or outdoor activities like hiking.

To enjoy your time in the sun safely, make sure you use broad-spectrum sunscreen, and don’t forget to pair it with SPF lip balm. Sunscreen that’s SPF 15 or higher and provides broad-spectrum protection is HSA eligible. But dermatologists recommend SPF 30 or higher to best protect your skin from sunburn, early aging, and skin cancer.

If you do get burned, have some remedies ready, like cooling gels that contain aloe vera. You can take extra baths or showers to help with the pain, and then apply the gel while your skin is still damp to lock in moisture and help cool off burned skin.

Speaking of summer skin threats, acne can worsen this time of year due to increased sweating, bacteria, heat, and friction from tight clothing. Treatments, such as patches, wipes, and cleansers, are HSA eligible.

Start your summer sun and skin kit with these trusted products:

2. Travel and On-the-Go Health

Summer is also about adventure. When the weather warms up, it’s time to hit the open road or hop on a flight for new experiences overseas.

Preparing for these trips can involve lengthy to-do lists. But you can save yourself some headache (and money) by getting some travel essentials in advance with your HSA.

Knowing your vacation care is covered can also give you peace of mind as you load up the car or take off from the runway.

Pack your HSA eligible travel kit with these necessities:

3. Active Lifestyle Support and Recovery

What’s the point of nice weather if you can’t enjoy it?

Summer offers numerous ways to do just that: sports, hiking, swimming, and even yard work.

Just make sure you’re able to deal with any aches, pains, and minor injuries along the way, so you can get the most out of those long summer days.

Here are some HSA eligible tools to help you stay active:

4. Family and Kids Readiness

School’s out in summer, which means more free time for the kiddos—and more reasons that you need to be prepared for anything.

With kids spending more time outdoors, it’s best to pick up some sunscreen for them when you grab some for yourself. If they tend to get sneezy and stuffy in summer, your HSA also covers kids’ allergy meds. And since they’ll likely come home with some bug bites and boo-boos, grab some anti-itch cream and band-aids specially designed for them.

Remember, too, that you can spend HSA funds on qualified medical expenses for your dependents, including children, as well as your spouse.

HSA eligible products to help you handle kid-sized summer emergencies include:

Bonus Tip: Planning Summer HSA Purchases

Now that you have an idea of what your summer health spending will be, you can start to plan for your HSA purchases instead of paying out of pocket when needs arise.

Here’s how:

Review your HSA balance to see if you have enough to meet your summer needs.
Make any additional contributions to cover your purchases.
Use our Funds Spender Page to make sure you stay within your budget.
Track your purchases for reimbursement using the ExpenseTracker™ app.

In Summary

Summertime is just about here. The air is getting warmer, and winter is starting to seem like a distant memory.

After you dust off your sunglasses and swimsuit, take some time to map out your health expenses for the next few months with your HSA. Having your care covered can make your summer days more carefree and ease your mind ahead of the season.