Are Smart Rings HSA/FSA Eligible? Yes, Here's How!

Why Smart Rings Qualify for HSA/FSA Spending

A smart ring is an activity tracker you wear on your finger. It logs your steps and activity time, and the app shows your trends. That way you can see how you're doing on your care plan between appointments. If you're managing obesity or type 2 diabetes, that turns a walking goal into a number you can check every day.

IRS Publication 502 defines medical expenses to include the costs of “diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.” A ring that tracks activity for your health condition has a medical purpose. Your Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) documents that use, and that's how the ring becomes an HSA/FSA purchase.

Start with what your provider wants you to track. That might be daily walking in a weight-management plan, movement goals in diabetes care, or steps during cardiac rehabilitation. The letter ties the ring's tracking to that plan. After that, you pick whichever ring you like and pay for it with HSA/FSA money.

Health Conditions That Can Qualify for a Smart Ring

Activity tracking can be part of care for several health conditions. Below are common examples a provider can document, and where a ring's step and movement records fit into each plan:

• Obesity: A ring logs your daily steps and activity goals in a weight-management program, so you can actually see your progress over time. A 2022 review in The Lancet Digital Health combined 39 reviews involving 163,992 participants. Taken together, they suggested wearable activity trackers add about 1,800 steps a day and reduce bodyweight by about 1 kilogram.
• Type 2 diabetes: Here the ring keeps tabs on the activity goals in your diabetes-management plan. A 2023 review of 25 studies in Endocrine Practice looked at people with type 2 diabetes and found that interventions using wearable activity monitors improved HbA1c, a measure of average blood sugar. Daily steps, body mass index and waist circumference improved too.
• Prediabetes: A ring can log walking and other activity toward the goals in a diabetes-prevention program. The NIDDK lists being physically active as part of the healthy living that may help prevent or reverse prediabetes. It also says planning and tracking your progress can help you make those changes. Its Diabetes Prevention Program included a lifestyle program with diet changes, a 7% weight-loss goal and 150 minutes of weekly activity. Over about three years, that program lowered participants' chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% compared with placebo.
• Coronary artery disease: A ring's step record can support the walking goals in a cardiac rehabilitation plan. A 2025 systematic review of wearable-supported cardiac rehabilitation included 23 studies involving people with coronary artery disease. Its analysis found about 1,060 more daily steps with wearable-supported rehabilitation than with usual care.

Managing something else? A smart ring qualifies for that too, as long as your provider links activity tracking to it in your letter.

How to Get a Letter of Medical Necessity for a Smart Ring

To get a Letter of Medical Necessity for your smart ring, you have two choices:

• Through Crates, typically in under 24 hours. Set aside about 2 to 3 minutes to fill out the online health assessment. A licensed provider reviews it, and if you qualify, your letter is issued for the smart ring. Your LMN covers 12 months at a time and renews each year.
• Through your own doctor, a few days to a few weeks. Book a visit, say you want to buy a smart ring with HSA/FSA funds, and ask your doctor to document how activity tracking with the ring helps prevent, manage, or reverse your health condition. Get that recommendation in a letter your doctor has signed and dated. The visit can involve a copay.

How to Buy a Smart Ring With HSA/FSA Funds

Pick the ring you like from any retailer, then get your money back from your HSA or FSA:

1. Get your LMN first. Go through Crates or your own doctor, as above, before you buy the ring.
2. Buy the ring anywhere. Shop online or in store, pay with your personal card, and keep the itemized receipt showing the ring and amount paid.
3. Get your funds back. Crates can file the claim for you through one-click reimbursement, or you can upload the letter and receipt yourself. If you pay with HSA money, keep both with your tax records.

One timing rule from IRS Publication 969: HSA expenses have to come after you open the account, and FSA expenses have to fall within your coverage period. Our HSA vs. FSA guide walks through how the two accounts differ.

Which Smart Rings Are HSA/FSA Eligible?

Eligibility isn't about the brand. It's about the medical purpose your letter documents. These popular picks all track activity on your finger and show your readings and trends in a phone app.

Already have a brand in mind? Our Oura Ring and RingConn guides cover how to buy each one. The Ultrahuman ring and Samsung Galaxy Ring pages cover those brands in more detail.

Other smart-ring brands work the same way. Men's ring, women's ring or a model without a subscription: the letter documents your health condition and the ring's role in your care, not the style. Rather wear it on your wrist? Our fitness trackers guide covers watches and bands too.

How Much Can You Save on a Smart Ring?

Paying with HSA/FSA money saves you up to 30%, because that money isn't taxed. On a $300 ring, with combined taxes near 30%, that's $90 you keep. That rate adds up federal income tax, state income tax and payroll tax, where they apply to you.

The prices below are examples, not current offers from any brand. Each column is just the price times the tax rate:

The ring costs the same at checkout, and your reimbursement comes from your HSA or FSA. Skipping taxes on that money is where the savings come from. Your tax bracket and how you fund the account decide the final number. Provider or LMN fees are separate from the ring prices illustrated here.