Gales Becomes The First Ever HSA/FSA Eligible Footwear
This is a guest article by Gales®
To lighten the cost burden of uniforms for nurses and healthcare professionals, Gales® has become the first ever footwear to be eligible for purchase via individual’s HSA/FSA health benefit accounts.
Over the past two years, Gales® has worked hard to finally make footwear a health benefit via HSA/FSA programs, as proper footwear has a significant health impact on the body for nurses and individuals who work long shifts on their feet. After extensive lab testing, human trials, and ongoing studies with accredited healthcare institutions and health specialists, Gales is excited to announce qualified individuals can now purchase shoes directly through weargales.com and use their HSA/FSA account to purchase by selecting HSA/FSA at checkout.
As an important note, if you have funds in your FSA account you haven’t spent yet, now is a good time before they expire at the end of the year! As a special holiday treat, Gales® is also happy to extend an additional 10% off through the end of the year for nurse.org readers using code: GALES-NURSEORG-10.
>>Read Nurse.org’s Gales Shoe Review by 4 Nurses article.
Footwear isn’t built for standing… athletic shoes are designed to help you jump higher and run faster by springing energy back into your body. However, this “energy return” principle increases pressure on knees, backs, and joints, leading to long-term pain and health complications for professionals on their feet for long shifts (healthcare, hospitality, education, and +1.8 Billion professionals who stand for a living).
Gales® are the first shoes designed to do the opposite––diffusing impact and dispersing energy to decrease pressure on your body during long shifts. Gales® are also fully bleachable, machine washable, antimicrobial, and made with partially recycled + eco-friendly materials.
When nurses saved Rob Gregg’s close friend from critical illness at the start of 2020, Rob put his life on pause to become a full-time healthcare volunteer. When working with the nurse innovation group SONSIEL, he discovered footwear was the #1 unaddressed issue in infection control and safety in the workplace. 80% of healthcare workers wore shoes that absorb deadly bacteria and disease1 and 90% of footwear tested tracks deadly bacteria2 (a higher percentage than bathroom floors and toilet seats). Not only were healthcare professionals exposed, but they also tracked life-threatening diseases (CDIFF, MERS, STAF, E COLI, and COVID) from room to room and home to their families.
As the owner of a luxury Italian footwear company, Rob shut down operations to create an entirely new solution to meet an urgent need – and solving that need came with a bigger purpose and vision—high-quality, protective footwear designed to meet the specific needs of healthcare workers with comfort and safety.
1: 2020 Healthcare Facility Survey
2: International Labor Organization
