Health Care Spending accounts and OTC drugs etc...

[DenverSarah]

I just wanted to let everyone know that there are new provisions in the tax laws that allow for those who have health care spending accounts to make claims on things that were previously not covered. OTC drugs are covered, as well as supplements as long as it can be proven they are needed for a health condition and not for as the IRS puts it "merely beneficial to the general health" of the claimant or claimant's depedent. This is the tricky part. In order to get most of the supplements that we use for our kids covered, I would imagine that we would have to find ourselves a health practitioner that's diet and nutrition savvy and not just a meds fan. Anyway I'm just babbling here, but my point is..I'm planning on calling my ped and finding out if there is way I can get some documentation that the supplements we use are for ADHD and not just "general health". If this one isn't cooperative, I'll find one who is!
Any thoughts?

[swmom]

We have a flexible spending account and I noticed that all kinds of interesting things were covered, including supplements. I called our neurologist to see if she'd write a letter of medical necessity for our omega 3 and our calcium/magnesium supplement both used for ADHD. She said she was OK with our using those but
wouldn't go so far as to write a letter of medical necessity. I 'spose it's a liability thing but geez...
So, I called our pediatrician. They said they'd write
a letter of medical necessity for the calcium because that has been well researched and documented. Not the omega 3. Didn't have much information on that.
So, I called my ob-gyn. She happily wrote a letter of medical necessity for my calcium supplement. I guess my point is it varies from doc to doc. I guess the way to get them to do that is provide the clinical research
behind using supplements for ADHD. Is there any?

[catatonic]

You can try citing the following study concluding that diet and supplements are as effective as Ritalin:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12946241&dopt=Abstract

Or the following (lengthy) review article summarizing the usefulness of a variety of non-medical treatments:
www.thorne.com/pdf/journal/5-5/attention_deficit.pdf

This article concludes a correlation between ADHD and essential fatty acid deficiency:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2439249&dopt=Abstract

And the following article provides scientific rationale for the need for sufficient essential fatty acids to insure normal brain function:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12728744&dopt=Abstract

Here's one in support of magnesium (and trace metal) supplementation:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9857546&dopt=Abstract

One demonstrating that magnesium supplementation decreases hyperactivity:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9857546&dopt=Abstract

One showing that magnesium deficiency is a high-frequency problem among ADHD children:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9368235&dopt=Abstract

If you're using carnitine:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12213433&dopt=Abstract

Hope this helps. There is a ton of literature on the subject, and these are just a few representative samples.

[Sorka]

what about a naturopath? Or a chiropractor they would be more likely to do this for you..
Unfortunately special foods are not on the list of things to be reimbursed for.. but hey I can deduct them that is the difference of the food (ie gluten free cookies and difference in cost of them and oreos..) have to keep my receipts and a worksheet of the costs.. fun fun !

but for supplements I would go with a naturapath..