Are over-the-counter medicines like Tylenol, Advil and cold medicine still covered under FSAs?
As of January 1, 2011, OTC drugs are eligible purchases with health FSA funds, but only if the patient obtains a doctor’s prescription and fills it through a pharmacy. This means a pharmacist is required to label and dispense the medication as they would a prescription; simply obtaining a prescription and then purchasing the medication over the counter is not sufficient. The prescription must exactly match the OTC medicine being purchased. If the prescription were written for “Tylenol,” for instance, the pharmacy would have to dispense Tylenol and not a generic brand of acetaminophen pain reliever.
