About Us

Stephen Evangelista

Founder & Lead Water-Treatment Researcher · FSA Eligible Water Filter

FSA Eligible Water Filter exists to answer one deceptively hard question accurately: when can a home water filter be paid for with HSA or FSA dollars — and how do you do it correctly? We pair real water-quality knowledge with a precise reading of the tax rules, so the guidance you get is both health-smart and money-smart.

Meet Stephen Evangelista

Stephen Evangelista is the founder and lead researcher behind FSA Eligible Water Filter. His work sits at the intersection of two subjects most resources treat separately: residential water quality — contaminants, treatment technologies, and certifications — and the rules that decide whether the equipment to address them qualifies as a medical expense under U.S. HSA and FSA accounts.

He built this site after watching how much conflicting, often inaccurate information surrounds a simple search like “are water filters FSA eligible?” Too many pages shout a confident yes and skip the one detail that actually matters — the Letter of Medical Necessity. Stephen's approach is the opposite: research-first, source-led, and honest about the limits. Every eligibility claim is traced back to IRS guidance, and every health or contaminant claim to authorities such as the EPA, CDC, and NSF.

Areas of expertise

• Water contaminants & health — lead, PFAS, nitrates, chlorine and chloramine, bacteria, microplastics, iron, manganese, and sulfur, and what each means for a household.
• Filtration & treatment technology — whole-house carbon and catalytic carbon, reverse osmosis, UV purification, air-injection iron systems, and salt-based vs salt-free softening.
• HSA / FSA eligibility — how a Letter of Medical Necessity turns a personal purchase into a qualified medical expense, and how the TrueMed checkout works.
• Tax & reimbursement rules — IRS Publications 502 and 969, documentation, claim denials, year-end deadlines, and the pre-tax savings math.
• Buying & product evaluation — matching a system to a verified water problem, reading certifications, and weighing cost of ownership.

Why you can trust this site

The clearest measure of expertise is the work itself. FSA Eligible Water Filter covers the full landscape — from the core eligibility question to contaminant-by-contaminant guides, system reviews, brand comparisons, and the exact reimbursement process — with each page grounded in primary sources rather than repackaged marketing. We are deliberately precise where it counts: we never say a filter is “automatically” eligible, we frame tax figures as current-year and “verify for your plan,” and we present honest trade-offs, including who a product is not for.

This is a Your-Money-Your-Life topic, so accuracy is not optional. When the rules are nuanced or evolving — as with recent EPA contaminant standards — we say so and point you to the source rather than pretending the answer is simpler than it is.

How we research and review

We ground eligibility statements in IRS Publication 502 (Medical and Dental Expenses) and IRS Publication 969 (HSAs and other tax-favored plans), and health and contaminant statements in the EPA, CDC, and NSF. Products are judged on contaminant reduction, maintenance and running cost, flow rate, warranty, certifications, and how the HSA/FSA purchase actually works. Full details are in our editorial & eligibility policy.

Our editorial independence

FSA Eligible Water Filter is reader-supported. Some links are affiliate links — if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships never determine our recommendations or ratings; we recommend what genuinely fits a reader's situation and describe the limitations honestly. We are independent and not operated by any manufacturer. See our affiliate disclosure.

Sources we rely on

• IRS — Publications 502 and 969 for medical-expense and HSA/FSA rules.
• U.S. EPA — drinking-water standards and contaminant guidance.
• CDC — private-well safety and waterborne-health guidance.
• NSF — product certification standards such as NSF/ANSI 53 and 58.

Contact

Spot something that could be clearer or more accurate? Tell us — we update content when rules, prices, or products change.

By Stephen EvangelistaWater-treatment researcher · How we verify eligibility · Updated June 16, 2026