Can you use FSA for cord blood banking?

Blood banking is a health-related expense. So, you would expect to use any of the accounts designated for medical issues to pay for it. But then, not all the accounts are eligible for cord blood banking. Possibly, you can use FSA (Flexible Spending Accounts) for cord blood banking, but there are factors that you have to consider to get it right. 

There is more that we will discuss on the eligibility of FSA for cord blood banking. So, keep reading to learn more.

Can you use FSA for cord blood banking?

Many other accounts are for health-related issues, and some of them don’t let people use them for cord blood banking. 

You can use FSA for cord blood banking at any time. 

However, you need a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) from any professional physician to bank cord blood with FSA. 

Without that, you cannot bank cord blood with FSA. You could attract penalties, and cord blood banking will be considered illegal. 

There are facts about FSA that you need to be aware of to bank your cord blood effectively.

Knowing these facts will help you know what FSA supports and align you with the way to properly use it. The facts are:

• The limit for Flexible Spending Accounts is over $2000 for each employer yearly. For married people, FSA allows wives to put in $2,850 with their employers.
• There is a list of health-related things that you can use the funds in your FSA to pay for.
• You can pay for your health bills and your wife’s and children’s health bills.

How much does it cost to bank the cord blood?

Banking cord blood privately is not cheap in any way. 

You face most of the expenses at the initial stage of cord blood banking. 

When you’re first registering for cord blood banking, you’re likely to spend an estimated price of $500 to $3000. 

However, it gets cheaper after the first payment. 

Subsequently, you will pay an estimated price of $100 to $300 for every year that the cord blood stays in the bank. 

Nonetheless, a couple of factors like the bank and the existing promotion on cord blood banking can affect the price of cord blood banking. 

Also, whether you’re banking just the cord blood or the cord blood and its tissue affects the price of cord blood banking. 

Banking just the cord blood is cheaper than banking the cord blood and its tissue. 

So, we advise you to save money and bank cord blood without the tissue. 

Banking cord blood without its tissue is still as effective as banking it with its tissue.

How do you bank umbilical cord blood?

It is easy to bank umbilical cord blood, so you don’t do it yourself. 

For a mother who sees the need to bank her baby’s cord blood, a prior arrangement should be made for that. 

The doctor, with a sterile needle, will draw the blood out of the umbilical vessels and put it into a blood collection bag.

When the doctor has done this, he will package the blood and send it to a blood bank, where they will store it till it is needed. 

It takes a professional to do this properly, so if you don’t have medical experience, we advise you to stay away from this practice.

Conclusion

A Flexible Spending Account is a health account with your money to cover your medical bills. 

There are other accounts like the Flexible Spending Account, but many don’t allow cord blood banking. 

You can use FSA for cord blood banking if you get a Letter of Medical Necessity from a physician. The fund in the account will get released to cover the cord blood banking cost.