Autonomous FSA is live: BodyBuddy now looks after your FSA
BodyBuddy now reads your FSA balance, suggests eligible items for the needs in your coaching, and orders only what you approve. Live for US members.
Today we're launching Autonomous FSA. BodyBuddy is a health coach you text, and now it looks after your flexible spending account too. It knows your balance, it finds the things your health actually calls for, and it orders only what you say yes to.
An FSA is pre-tax money your job sets aside for health costs. It is a good deal with one catch: most plans let you carry over only a few hundred dollars into next year, and some let you carry nothing. About half of accountholders forfeited money to their employer in 2023, an average of $436 each. That is money people earned, set aside for their health, and then lost to a deadline.
We built Autonomous FSA because that deadline is exactly the kind of thing a coach who texts you every day should be watching.
What it does
Sign in once, and BodyBuddy learns your plan. You tell BodyBuddy who runs your FSA (HealthEquity, WEX, Optum and the others) and sign in once. BodyBuddy reads what's left, your yearly election, when the plan year ends, what rolls over, and the deadline for claims. The FSA page in the app reads like a bank's: the number, what's at risk, and the rule.
It finds things your health actually calls for. When something comes up in your coaching, say your doctor wants home blood pressure readings, BodyBuddy researches FSA Store overnight and brings back a short list of three or four options with real prices, tax included, and names the one it would pick. You choose.
You approve every order. Nothing is bought until you say yes to the exact total. BodyBuddy pays with your FSA card and ships to your address. It never buys anything that needs a letter of medical necessity.
It watches the deadline. Six weeks before your plan year ends (November 1 on a calendar-year plan), BodyBuddy names what won't roll over and asks about the real costs first: a copay you paid out of pocket, a prescription, glasses. Then, if there is something you would really use, it suggests it. Letting a small amount go beats spending to spend.
It asks whether it helped. A few weeks after a purchase, BodyBuddy checks whether the thing is helping, and it stops suggesting what doesn't.
Refills on their own, only if you turn that on. For things you buy again, like sunscreen, you can let BodyBuddy reorder without asking, under a limit you set.
It reads the mail from your administrator. If your administrator wants a receipt or suspends your card, BodyBuddy tells you what they need and by when.
What it doesn't do yet
It doesn't file claims. If you paid a copay out of pocket, BodyBuddy reminds you to keep the receipt and file it. Filing for you is next on the list.
One store. Today it shops FSA Store, where everything is eligible. More stores are on the list.
US only, and FSAs only. HSAs are on the list too.
How we make money on this (we don't)
BodyBuddy makes nothing on what it suggests. No commissions, and no affiliate links deciding the list. The subscription, $29 a month, is the only thing you pay us. We believe the incentive structure of healthcare has to change, and this is a small step toward spending that pays off in your health.
Your card, your sign-in, your data
You add your FSA card on FSA Store's own page; BodyBuddy never sees the number or the security code. Your administrator sign-in is stored encrypted, used only to read your account, and you can remove it any time in the app. The full details are in our privacy policy and terms.
How to start
New members get the question during onboarding. If you're already with BodyBuddy, open the app and tap Set up my FSA on the What's New card, or go to Settings and tap Autonomous FSA. Not with BodyBuddy yet? Get the app, and it will ask.
