
Ask HN: Online therapy TalkSpace lied about IRS tax rules. What can I do? - throwaway99986
After having an rough few months I decided to try out an online therapy service and went with one of the most popular ones, TalkSpace. During my initial &quot;intake&quot; chat session, I asked if their service qualifies for the IRS HRA plan. An HRA is similar to a FSA, but the money is supplied by your company. The TalkSpace representative told me their service did qualify, and I have a record of this. However, my claim for a total of over $300 got rejected by BlueCross for not being a valid medical service. I spoke with BlueCross on the phone and they said they can&#x27;t do anything because that&#x27;s the IRS rules. I emailed their customer support with a screenshot of the conversation where their representative said this, but they told me I need to talk to my therapist even though I cancelled over a month ago, and then their customer service stopped replying when I asked more questions.<p>What can I do? They lied to get me to sign up for their service, and now i&#x27;m stuck with a $300 bill for a service that I have since cancelled and was (almost completely) useless.
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yesenadam
I don't know anything about any of the organisations you mention, but:

Is it possible they didn't lie, but got it wrong? Seems to me your assumption
they lied isn't entirely warranted, and possibly it's counterproductive
talking as if you're certain about that.

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paulcole
Move on. You’re not getting your money back. Just accept it and remember this
the next time you ask anyone a question with an answer that has higher stakes
for you than them.

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Mononokay
Small claims court, possibly?

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DamonHD
I'm not in the US, but it sounds to me the sort of thing that the FTC gets
involved in...

