These sorts of savings accounts work by allowing people to deposit money into accounts pre-tax, meaning they’re reducing the tax money taken out of each paycheck while setting aside money to specifically cover medical expenses. Until 2020, menstrual products were not officially recognized as medical care items, so people could not purchase them with HSA or FSA funds without risking a penalty. (The fight to change that had raged for years.) While it doesn’t eliminate the so-called tampon tax—the fact that tampons and other menstrual care products are subject to a sales tax while other basic necessities and personal medical items, including groceries, are not—it does mean people purchasing menstrual items are able to do so with tax-free money, potentially saving large sums of money over the course of their lifetimes. It’s a small change—most menstruating people will probably end up saving as little as a few cents each month—but a positive one, and one people have argued in favor of for years. When that time of the month rolls around again, you can pick up a fresh box of tampons with your HSA card or request a reimbursement from your FSA: At this point, we’ll take any win we can get.
