Best FSA/HSA Sleep Products

Having an FSA/HSA account can provide a lot of convenience in your life. Being able to use it to purchase healthcare products, pay for doctor’s visits, or settle hospital bills, all pre-tax, helps you give your wallet a break when you need it most. But what do you do when you have an FSA account, and the deadline is approaching? How can you spend your funds before you lose them all? And most importantly, what do you spend your money on?

If you want to find FSA/HSA-eligible products, the first thing you need to do is figure out what is a valuable way to spend your money; one that would provide a significant investment. If you’re still unsure, that’s where sleep products come in. Given that you spend about a third of your life asleep, investing in better sleep hygiene is always worth it. 

What exactly is FSA/HSA?

FSA stands for Flexible Spending Account, and HSA stands for Health Savings Account. They’re similar in some ways, but are actually quite different. Let’s break them both down separately.

A Flexible Spending Account is a pre-tax account that you can use for qualified medical expenses. An FSA is employer-owned and has a “use-it-or-lose-it” rule, where if you don’t use the funds in the account, you forfeit them. This typically happens every year. How it works is that you contribute money to this account from your paycheck to cover out-of-pocket health costs. When you do this, it lowers your taxable income. The biggest downside about an FSA is that you lose this account when you leave the job. The upside is that it’s easier to get as it’s available through most employers’ health plans. 

A Health Savings Account is employee-owned, so if you lose your job, you don’t have to worry about losing this account. Also, the funds will roll over indefinitely (since it’s yours). You can even grow it like an investment. However, to be eligible for an HSA, you have to be enrolled in a High-Deductible Health Plan. Like an FSA, you put funds in pre-tax and can use them tax-free for healthcare expenses or even for your retirement savings.

They are both great options for helping you purchase necessary healthcare products; you just have to figure out which one works best for you and your current situation. 

 Best FSA/HSA Sleep Products

• Best sleep system: Eight Sleep Pod 5
• Best pillow: Purple Harmony Pillow
• Best alarm clock: Hatch Restore 3
• Best sleep tech: Oura Ring 4
• Best weighted blanket: Bearaby Weighted Blanket

Best sleep system: Eight Sleep Pod 5

If you’re panicking because you have a sizeable chunk of money in your FSA and are looking for something high-quality to splurge on, look no further than the Eight Sleep Pod 5. This advanced system will help improve your sleep by providing temperature control, snore reduction, zero-gravity support, and so much more. Using artificial intelligence, the Pod 5 adjusts the bed temperature and body position for optimal sleep. I suffer from chronic back pain, and I find that having a bed like this that molds to my body would help alleviate some of the discomfort I experience during sleep. The clinical-grade sensors track your nightly sleep and health data to help you learn more about how you sleep and how you progress with adjustments. 

Features

• Price: $5,348
• Warranty: 5 years
• Sleep trial: 30 nights
• Shipping: Free
• Cooling type: Active
• Cooling method: Water

Pros

• Built-in alarm to wake you up
• Automatic temperature controls
• Sleep and health tracking
• Phone-free button controls
• Leak-proof design

Cons

• Annual subscription required for some features

Best pillow: Purple Harmony Pillow

You may not realize how easily you could improve your sleep by making one simple swap to your sleep hygiene: get a new pillow. The Purple Harmony Pillow features a honeycomb GelFlex grid to help boost cooling and pressure relief. It’s available in three height options, making it great for stomach, side, back, and combination sleepers alike. This feature is my favorite as a new mom. When I was pregnant, I struggled to find a comfortable sleep position and having a pillow that had height options would have improved my overall sleep. It has a medium firmness that’ll feel equally supportive and soft as it conforms to your head and neck shape, rather than your head sitting stiffly on top of it or sinking too far in. One downside? The price. It’s $209 for one pillow, which may feel steep for some buyers. You can get a set of two for $188 each, saving you about 10%.

Features

• Price: $209
• Warranty: One year
• Sleep trial: 30 days
• Shipping: Free, 1-2 days

Pros

• Three height options for different sleepers
• Honeycomb grid promotes cooling and pressure relief
• The stretch knit cover is moisture-wicking

Cons

• Expensive for just one pillow (a set would be $188 each)

Best alarm clock: Hatch Restore 3

Gone are the days of using your phone’s blaring alarm clock and waking up grouchy. The Hatch Restore 3 transforms your mornings and nights with pleasant sounds and unique alarms. Use the Hatch to unwind for a night’s sleep without using your phone with sleep sounds that help you fall asleep faster and actually stay asleep. The sunrise alarm lets you wake up gently with light instead of sound. It will mimic a natural dawn, moving from red to orange to white before your chosen alarm plays. This gradual exposure helps your brain release cortisol, which cues your body to wake up naturally. As a sleep science coach, I love this natural process over a blaring alarm, which can spike your cortisol and even adrenaline. You can use the Hatch Restore without a subscription, but you will only have access to the core content, which, honestly, is not that great. You will have to pay for the additional features, such as customizing your sleep and wake-up routines.

Features

• Price: $169.99
• Shipping: Free
• Trial: 30 nights
• Warranty: One year
• Colors: Three

Pros

• Pleasant sleep sounds to help you fall asleep
• Doubles as a bedside light
• Dimmable clock
• Phone-free design

Cons

• Subscription costs $4.99/month of $49.99/year after free trial

Best sleep tech: Oura Ring 4

If you’re someone who really loves looking at analytics and figuring out how to improve your health, you will love the Oura Ring 4. The Oura Ring uses advanced technology to collect data 24/7, with up to 8 days of battery life. You’ll see valuable insights into sleep, heart rate, stress, women’s health, activity and movement, and even your metabolic health. These are features I would personally love as a postpartum mom whose sleep schedule and health have completely shifted in the last year. The Oura Ring comes with an app that lets you view all your insights. However, this is another situation where the best features are hidden behind a subscription wall, so that’s something to consider.  The ring comes in four beautiful colors, features a strong, high-performance zirconia ceramic exterior, and is water resistant up to 100m/328 ft.

Features

• Price: $499
• Colors: Four
• Warranty: One year
• App: iOS and Android

Pros

• Tracks your sleep
• Up to 8 days of battery life
• Water resistant up to 100 meters
• Provides detailed insights on women’s health

Cons

• Limited without paid subscription
• Bulkier than normal jewelry

Best weighted blanket: Bearaby Weighted Blanket

Not into fancy tech? Try a weighted blanket instead. This blanket from Bearaby is available in four weights, ranging from 10 to 25 pounds. If you’re unsure which weight to choose, the brand recommends a weighted blanket should be about 10% of your body weight for maximum effect. Weighted blankets have been medically proven to improve sleep, reduce anxiety, and enhance focus. It may even help minimize nighttime wake-ups if that is something you struggle with. I personally use my weighted blanket to provide relief from my anxiety and find that it works very well. One thing to note is that the blanket makes me a bit hot, but I am a naturally hot sleeper. So if you sweat a lot and struggle to stay cool in bed, this may not be the best choice for nighttime sleep, but it’s better for relaxing on the couch.

Features

• Price: $199
• Weight: Four options, up to 25 lbs
• Colors: Eight
• Trial: 30 days
• Warranty: One year

Pros

• Available in four different weights to cater to your needs
• Medically proven to aid deeper sleep cycles
• Organic Fairtrade cotton
• Very eco-friendly

Cons

• Extra weight may make some sleepers too hot

Why you should spend your FSA/HSA funds

Well, the answer to why you should spend your FSA funds is explicitly simple: you’ll lose the money. Maybe not all of it, considering some employers will offer the rollover for a specific amount of money in your account to roll over into the following year. 

The reason one should spend their HSA funds is because of its sweet tax advantage. It’s pre-tax contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for health. Using this would save you significantly on healthcare costs compared to paying out of pocket, and it would also lower your taxable income. Basically, spending this money on eligible items gives you an instant discount (as the money comes from untaxed dollars), which can stretch your budget even further.

Final thoughts

Whether you have an FSA or an HSA account, spending your funds on eligible healthcare products is an excellent way to stretch your budget, use pre-tax dollars, and ensure you actually take the time to buy products you need that you usually put off. You can’t put a price on sleep. Sometimes we justify making purchases, huge ones like an Eight Sleep Pod 5, because it feels like a lot to come out of our wallet at once. Using your FSA/HSA is an investment in your health. If you have an FSA, you’re going to lose it by the end of the year anyway. Why not ensure you spend it on products that work well and may improve your sleep in some way?