How Student Athletes Can Benefit From an HSA

Doctor's visits

A tweaked knee during preseason training? Use your HSA to pay for a visit to a physical therapist or sports medicine doctor. Any medical professional you visit is eligible under your HSA (provided that the service you receive is eligible as well). You can also use your HSA for specific travel expenses such as reimbursement of medical mileage related to a doctor's visit, especially useful if you're visiting a specialist whose office is 45 minutes away.

If extensive surgery or rehab is needed after a sports injury, consider maxing out your HSA. Currently, the annual contribution limit for 2025 is $4,300 for individuals and $8,550 for families. Paying for ACL repair surgery with your HSA will take the sting out of the operation, since you'll get a nice tax deduction at the end of the year. If frequent injury is the case, think about contributing a set amount each month to your HSA so you're always prepared.

How to get expenses reimbursed

You can use your HSA debit card directly to pay for qualified medical expenses or you can use another account and reimburse yourself later. Remember to keep all relevant receipts in case the IRS asks you to prove those expenses were HSA eligible.

You might even want to scan them digitally since many paper receipts will age quickly and become illegible. Store receipts somewhere safe like a secured cloud server, so you can always find them easily. Your doctors will also usually keep copies of records, though you shouldn't rely on them exclusively.

What you can't use an HSA for

Unfortunately, not every athletic endeavor can be paid for with an HSA. Gym memberships, protein powders, nutritional supplements, and private trainers are not HSA eligible, unless your doctor or medical professional has specifically prescribed them to fix a medical condition.

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