Answers to most frequently asked questions.
What do I need to know about my Health Savings Accounts.
The money Invested in a Heath Saving Account (HSA) is always yours, even if you change jobs, switch your health plan, become unemployed, retire or move to another state. And you start earning interest on the balance in your account from day one. No waiting or vesting periods. With an HSA, your unused balance rolls over from year to year so you never lose the money. And the longer you save it, the longer it accrues interest.
An HSA is a great place to build up savings for expenses
you have today or will have in the future. Injuries or a new
diagnosis might mean you need to pay a lot of bills at one
time. Or you may need to cover expenses that count toward
your deductible like doctor visits or prescription drugs. If
your budget isn’t flexible, use your HSA to pay bills this year.
But if you can afford to pay bills out of pocket and save the
money in your HSA for the future, then your HSA balance
may grow through interest and investment earnings. That
way you’ll have more money for expenses when you need
it most—whether in a year, 10 years or in retirement.
To take advantage of such great tax breaks, the IRS says
that only eligible individuals can save in an HSA. To open
and contribute to an HSA, you:
• Must participate in an HSA-qualified high deductible
health plan (HDHP);
• Can’t participate in another health plan that’s not a high deductible health plan (for example, a spouse’s plan).
Some exceptions may apply (get more details in IRS
publication 969 at www.irs.gov);
Partial-year participation:
If you open your account mid-year or become ineligible midyear, your contribution limits may be impacted. If you are
married, your spouse’s participation in a health care flexible
spending account or other family health insurance coverage
may change your eligibility.
To contribute to an HSA, you must be enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP). An HDHP is a health plan that meets two requirements as specified by the U.S. Treasury Department. First, it must have an annual deductible that meets the minimum deductible amount, which is published annually. Second, the annual out of pocket expenses—such as deductibles, copayments and other expenses paid for by the participant—associated with the HDHP may not exceed the specified out-of-pocket maximums. Premiums (the amount you pay each month for coverage) do not count as out-of-pocket expenses.
You choose how much you’d like to save in your HSA each year and contributions are automatically made from your paycheck to your account. You can choose to pay for current eligible medical expenses with your HSA. Or you can choose to pay for current expenses out of your pocket and save the money in your HSA to pay for future medical expenses. How you use your account and when you use it are entirely up to you.
Yes. Once you have a minimum amount saved in the HSA (typically $1000), you can then invest any moneys over the minimum amount into an investment portfolio. Where you have the option to make investments in securities that carry various levels of risk and reward, similar to investment in a retirement savings plan.
You have full control over your investments.
You can use your balance to pay for qualified medical
expenses for you or your covered dependents (shown
in IRS Publication 502). Some examples include:
• Your deductible
• Dental treatments, exams or cleaning costs
• Prescription and over-the-counter drug costs
• Vision expenses such as contact lenses or glasses
• Chiropractic or acupuncture fees
• Crutches
• Eye surgery
They don’t include insurance premiums other than
premiums for long-term care insurance, premiums
on a health plan during any period of continuation
coverage required by federal law (for example,
“COBRA” coverage) or premiums for healthcare coverage
while you receive unemployment compensation.
You can find a full list of qualified expenses at www.irs.gov.
Access your card using your digital wallet (includes: Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay and FitBit Pay) at the pharmacy or for other health-related services and the associated cost will be debited from your HSA balance. Or use your card to pay doctor’s visit bills once the claim has been submitted to your insurance carrier so that you will receive the negotiated rates for services. Save your receipts, since you may need them if the IRS requests that you show proof of how you used your tax-free money. If you cannot use your debit card, you will pay for the expense out of your own pocket, then reimburse yourself from your HSA. If you don’t have enough money in your account to pay for the entire amount of an expense (for example, if you just opened the account or the company hasn’t made its full contribution yet), you can pay for a portion of that expense with your account and cover the rest with personal funds. Once the HSA funds build and are available in the account, you can reimburse yourself from the HSA.
You may use your HSA to pay for qualified expenses including your deductible. Or you can let the HSA build up for future expenses. The choice is yours. The HSA is not a method to determine if you’ve met your deductible; that information is available on your medical plan provider’s website or on any explanation of benefits (EOBs) that you receive from your plan.
No, you cannot enroll in both. If you are married, you may not have coverage under your spouse’s flexible spending account (FSA). You can only have a “limited purpose” FSA. Eligible expenses with a limited purpose FSA include most unreimbursed dental, vision and/or hearing care expenses (including expenses for your dependents), and out-of-pocket medical expenses you paid after you met your plan deductible.
The money you save in your HSA is tax free. The money you contribute isn’t taxed, nor is the money taxed as your balance grows. As long as you use the money to pay for qualified expenses, you won’t pay taxes when you withdraw it either.
No. However, you may transfer the balance from that
HSA into your InvestedHealth HSA and continue to make pretax
contributions. First, open your InvestedHealth HSA. Then decide how
you’d like to transfer the funds. You have two options:
1. A direct transfer of all of the balance
from one trustee to a InvestedHealth HSA
2. A distribution of funds to the employee, who may then
roll over all or part of the HSA balance into a InvestedHealth HSA
No, the money in your account rolls over from year to year, so you won’t lose unused money each year like you would with a flexible spending account (FSA). Best of all, your HSA balance is yours to keep even if you change health plans or change jobs.
Select from the links below to download an assortment of InvestedHealth related materials.
Transfer assets from one or more existing accounts to a single InvestedHealth HSA.
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