Save Smart Spend Healthy Applauds IRS Decision to Allow Purchase of Breast Pumps with Flexible Spending Accounts

(February 10, 2011 - Washington, D.C.) Save Smart Spend Healthy, a consumer education campaign focused on the benefits of flexible spending accounts, today applauded the decision by the IRS to allow breast feeding supplies - such as breast pumps - to be considered tax-deductible medical supplies, and therefore eligible for purchase by those with flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health spending accounts (HSAs).

"Today's announcement by the IRS is a victory for working families with newborns and those who rely on flexible spending accounts to help manage and hold down their out-of-pocket health care costs," said Joe Jackson, chairman of Save Smart Spend Healthy and CEO of benefits provider WageWorks, Inc. "As health care costs continue to rise, flexible spending accounts are becoming increasingly important, making it easier for participants to get the medical care and supplies they need to stay healthy without worrying as much about the economic impact of their decisions."

The IRS previously denied a request by the American Academy of Pediatrics to consider breast feeding supplies as tax-deductible medical expenses. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers breastfeed for at least the first six months to a year of their baby's life in order promote good health.