The fitness industry faces numerous challenges, from staffing shortages to revenue optimization. Amid these challenges, many coaches and gym owners overlook a powerful financial tool that could help grow their business: Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) payments. Most fitness professionals consider this payment option too complicated or assume it requires extensive paperwork and a deep understanding. Flex rewrites that narrative by creating a streamlined system that connects fitness providers with clients looking to maximize their pre-tax healthcare dollars.

Flex enables coaches, trainers, gyms, and eligible health and wellness businesses to accept HSA and FSA payments easily. The company has developed a solution that simplifies what was previously a confusing process, making these healthcare funds accessible for fitness services while maintaining compliance with IRS regulations.

How Flex Works for Fitness Professionals

While prescriptions and pharmacy items are automatically eligible for HSA/FSA spending, fitness services require a Letter of Medical Necessity—essentially a doctor’s note confirming that the service treats a specific medical condition, such as back pain or heart complications. Flex has created a straightforward process for obtaining this documentation.

For just a one-time $99 setup fee, fitness professionals receive:

• A custom-branded landing page with their business information
• Marketing materials, including email templates, social media assets, and signage
• Full customer support for clients with HSA/FSA questions

The process works seamlessly for clients, too. They complete a 60- to 90-second form confirming they’re medically cleared for exercise and selecting their qualifying condition from an IRS-approved list. After paying a $15 telehealth fee (also HSA/FSA eligible), they receive their Letter of Medical Necessity within two hours. This letter remains valid for 12 months, allowing them to make multiple purchases throughout the year.

This is particularly valuable because clients find out they’re eligible in real time, meaning there’s no risk of purchasing services like personal training packages and later discovering they can’t be reimbursed. Flex handles all private health information, so fitness businesses never need to worry about compliance issues.

Driving Growth and Client Retention

Accepting HSA/FSA payments creates significant business advantages for fitness professionals. By offering this payment option, trainers and gyms can tap into clients’ pre-tax healthcare funds, money many consumers might otherwise leave unspent.

This capability serves as a client acquisition and retention tool. For clients with HSA/FSA funds, the ability to use pre-tax dollars represents a 30 to 40 percent discount on services. This price advantage makes fitness services more attractive and accessible, particularly during key spending periods.

Ben Noblet, Head of Partnerships with Flex, shared that fitness professionals can leverage seasonal opportunities throughout the year. During Q4, they can encourage clients to use expiring FSA funds by upgrading to larger class packages, so as not to waste their HFA/FSA dollars. In Q1, they can promote new purchases when fresh HSA/FSA funds become available. This creates natural marketing opportunities that don’t feel forced or repetitive.

The educational component proves particularly valuable. Many consumers don’t realize their HSA/FSA funds can cover fitness services with proper documentation. By informing clients about this option, fitness professionals demonstrate expertise and genuine care for their clients’ financial well-being, strengthening relationships and building loyalty.

The process requires minimal effort from fitness professionals, with just a 10-minute setup, which creates a permanent solution that works automatically. Flex handles all customer support questions, allowing trainers to focus on their best work without becoming HSA/FSA experts.

Final Thoughts

Financial barriers frequently prevent people from investing in their health and fitness. By bridging the gap between healthcare spending accounts and fitness services, Flex removes these obstacles while creating business growth opportunities for fitness professionals.

With Flex, financial constraints no longer need to stand in the way of health and wellness. For fitness professionals, this represents a perfect alignment of business growth and client service, where they can increase revenue while genuinely helping clients maximize their healthcare dollars and invest in their well-being. This win-win solution exemplifies how innovative financial tools can create value throughout the entire fitness ecosystem.

About Elisa Edelstein
Elisa is a curious and versatile writer, carving her niche in the health and wellness industry since 2015. Her lens is rooted in real world experience as a personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder and extended out of the gym and on to the page as a writer where she is able to combine her passions for empowering others, promoting wellness, and the power of the written word.