Every year, Americans forfeit an estimated $3 billion in unspent FSA dollars. Not because they didn't need medical care. Not because their health was unusually good. Because the calendar moved faster than they did.
If crutches are on your horizon -- because of a surgery scheduled before year-end, an injury you've been managing, or a chronic condition that makes mobility aids a recurring need -- your FSA balance is a resource worth putting to work. Here's what you need to know before the deadline hits.
How FSA Expiration Works
A Flexible Spending Account is funded with pre-tax dollars through your employer's benefits plan. The catch is that the IRS designed them as a use-it-or-lose-it benefit. Money you don't spend before your plan year ends goes back -- not to you.
The standard deadline is December 31. But your employer may offer one of two modifications:
Grace period: Some plans extend the spending window through March 15 of the following year. If your plan has a grace period, you have until mid-March to spend your prior-year balance on qualifying purchases.
Rollover: Some plans allow you to carry over up to $640 from one plan year into the next. That money doesn't expire -- it just moves forward into your new plan year balance.
The critical detail: your employer can offer a grace period OR a rollover, but not both. These are two separate plan options, and they don't stack.
To find out which type of plan you have, check your Summary Plan Description -- this is the document your employer provides that outlines your benefits in detail. You can also call your FSA administrator or ask your HR department directly. It's worth knowing before December arrives.
Who Should Think About This Now
You don't have to be actively injured to make FSA planning worth your time. Here are the situations where acting sooner rather than later makes sense:
You've had surgery or an injury this year. If you're still in recovery or expect to need mobility aids through the rest of the year, the purchase is relevant now, not hypothetically.
You have a procedure scheduled before year-end. A planned surgery means planned recovery. If your recovery will require crutches, buying before your FSA deadline means you're using funds you'd otherwise lose.
You've been using hospital-issued or rental crutches. The underarm crutches handed out at discharge or rented from a pharmacy are built for short-term use at low cost. If your recovery stretches past a few weeks, those crutches become a liability. Better equipment is an FSA-eligible upgrade.
You have a chronic condition that makes crutches a recurring need. If you already know you'll need crutches again -- whether from a degenerative condition, a recurring injury, or an anticipated procedure -- buying quality equipment now with pre-tax dollars is simply good financial planning.
Why Crutches Are One of the Best FSA Purchases You Can Make
FSA "spend-down season" at the end of the year produces some genuinely questionable purchases. People stock up on items they don't really need just to avoid losing the balance. Blue-light glasses. Extra reading glasses. Vitamins they'll never take.
Crutches are different, for a few reasons.
First, they're a legitimate IRS-approved durable medical equipment purchase under Publication 502. No prescription required (the CARES Act of 2020 removed that requirement for many OTC and DME items). No documentation to dig up. Just a qualifying purchase you can make directly.
Second, if you need them, you'll actually use them. The goal of a good FSA purchase isn't just to zero out your balance -- it's to get something of real value with pre-tax money. Crutches you need are not a panic buy.
Third, quality crutches prevent secondary injury. This is not a minor point. Poorly designed crutches -- the kind that force you to hunch your shoulders, absorb impact through your wrists, or slip on a wet floor -- don't just make recovery uncomfortable. They contribute to the shoulder damage, nerve compression, and upper-body strain that can follow patients long after their original injury heals. The right crutch is part of your recovery, not an afterthought.
The FSA Math Before Your Deadline
Here's what the tax savings actually look like on quality crutches, based on your marginal federal income tax bracket:
| Tax Bracket |
in-Motion Crutch Price |
Tax Savings |
Effective Cost |
| 22% |
$139 |
$31 |
$108 |
| 24% |
$139 |
$33 |
$106 |
| 32% |
$139 |
$44 |
$95 |
Now compare that to the $30 aluminum crutches at the pharmacy:
| Tax Bracket |
Pharmacy Crutches |
Tax Savings |
Effective Cost |
| 22% |
$30 |
$7 |
$23 |
| 24% |
$30 |
$7 |
$23 |
| 32% |
$30 |
$10 |
$20 |
The pharmacy crutches save you $7 to $10. And you get a product designed to be sold at the lowest possible price, not to support a real recovery.
The FSA doesn't change the math between cheap and quality -- it amplifies it. The same pre-tax benefit that saves you $7 on a $30 crutch saves you $31 to $44 on a $139 one. Spend where the value is.
How to Buy Before Your Deadline
A few practical notes on timing:
FSA plans vary on what triggers eligibility -- some plans use the date of purchase, others use the date of service or delivery. Check your plan's rules if you're cutting it close to December 31.
If your plan uses the date of purchase, you're covered as soon as you place the order. If it uses date of delivery or date of service, you'll want to order with enough lead time to ensure arrival before the deadline.
Millennial Medical ships the in-Motion crutch quickly. If you're ordering in November or December and need it before year-end, you'll have time -- but don't wait until the last week.
Order at millennialmedical.com and use your FSA card at checkout.
When you complete the purchase, save your receipt. Your FSA administrator may ask for documentation, and having the order confirmation and itemized receipt on hand keeps the process clean.
Don't Spend Your FSA on the Cheapest Option
There's a version of FSA spend-down that feels responsible but isn't: buying the cheapest qualifying item just to zero out the balance.
With crutches specifically, the cheap version carries real costs that don't show up at checkout.
Standard aluminum underarm crutches are designed for one thing: low unit cost. They transfer weight through your armpits (which is not how they're supposed to be used, but how most people actually use them), offer minimal shock absorption, and are sized for average bodies rather than individual users. After a few days, most people find them painful. After a few weeks, some develop nerve damage in their hands, rotator cuff strain from improper gait, or skin breakdown from crutch contact.
If your recovery lasts more than a few days, the $30 crutch becomes a liability. Add two or three physical therapy visits for crutch-related shoulder strain, and the cheap crutch has cost you more than the $139 forearm crutch would have -- without the tax savings.
Your FSA dollars represent money you already earned. Spend them on something that earns them back.
The in-Motion Crutch: A Better Use of Your FSA Balance
The in-Motion forearm crutch (HCPCS E0110) is spring-assisted and designed for the way bodies actually move. It absorbs impact, returns energy, and keeps your weight through your forearms and hands -- where it belongs -- rather than through your armpits or wrists. It fits in a car trunk, works on stairs, and is built to last well beyond a single recovery.
At $139 per pair, it's an FSA-eligible purchase that holds its value. You can also find the spring-assisted underarm model under HCPCS E0117 if your recovery calls for that style.
If you have FSA dollars to spend before your deadline,
visit millennialmedical.com to order. FSA cards are accepted directly at checkout.
More in This Series
Part of Millennial Medical's guide to using FSA and HSA dollars on crutches:
Be kind. Be generous. Always pay it forward.
This guide is part of our FSA and HSA Resource Hub, where you'll find every option for getting crutches covered.
