- Health Savings Account (HSA)
- An HSA is a tax-advantaged account established to pay for qualified medical expenses of an account holder who is covered under a high-deductible health plan. With money from this account, you pay for healthcare expenses until your deductible is met. Any unused funds are yours to retain in your HSA and accumulate towards your future healthcare expenses or your retirement.
In order to put money into an HSA you are required to have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) in effect for either you or your family. A HDHP is simply health insurance that meets certain minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket expense requirements. **HSA_LIMITS_DEFINITION**
- Plan year
- Select the plan year for your contribution. This will affect contribution limits and plan requirements that are adjusted annually. The deadline for all HSA contributions for a year is April 15th of the following year. It is the same as the individual tax filing deadline.
- High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) was in effect
- Select the first full month that your HDHP was in effect. If it was established in a prior year, choose 'Prior to January of current year'. Contribution limits are not prorated by your plan's start date. However, if your HDHP effective date was after January 1st, and within twelve months of the end of the first year you no longer have an eligible HSA, you will have to report the difference between the prorated amount and the actual amount as income and pay an additional 10% penalty on that amount. Please note that the prorated amount is based on when your HDHP plan took effect, not when your HSA account was established.
- High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) coverage type
- Choose the insurance coverage type for your HDHP. Your choices are 'Family' or 'Single'.
- High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) deductible amount
- Your HDHP deductible amount is the amount you pay toward your own medical expenses, in a given year, before your insurance begins to cover any expenses. **HSA_MINDEDUCTIBLE_DEFINITION**
- Marginal income tax rate
- Your marginal tax rate is used to calculate your potential tax savings. The tool assumes that all contributions receive a tax deduction at the tax rate you enter here. **TAXTABLE_CURRENT_DEFINITION**
- You are 55+
- Check here if you, as the plan owner, will be 55 or older this year. Your age is used to determine if you are eligible to contribute additional catch-up contributions to your HSA. If you are 55 or older and your HDHP is in effect, you are eligible to deposit catch-up contributions. The catch-up contribution amount is $1,000 which is not indexed for inflation. By checking the box you are indicating you are 55 or older this year and are still covered by an HDHP.
Catch-up contributions are not prorated. You can deposit the entire amount into your HSA as long as you are 55 or older at some point during the year. Please note that you may need to prorate your annual contribution and your catch-up contribution when you enroll in Medicare on a date other than January 1.
- Spouse is 55+
- Check here if your spouse will be 55 or older this year. Your spouse's age is used to determine what catch-up contribution amount they can deposit into their own HSA. By checking the box you are indicating your spouse is 55 or older this year and that they are eligible to contribute into an HSA. Please note, your spouse must have an HSA account established in their name and be eligible to make contributions into that account. For example, if your spouse is covered by your family HDHP and is over 55, but has enrolled in Medicare, they would be ineligible to make a catch-up contribution.
- Coverage change
- Check here if you changed your coverage during the current year. If coverage type changed during the current year, check this box. Your annual contribution will be calculated using the number of full months you were covered under each coverage type. For example, if you had single coverage for 6 full months and family coverage 6 full months, your annual contribution amount would be a pro-rated amount equal to one half year of the family maximum and one half year of the single maximum.
- First full month of change
- Select the first full month your new HDHP coverage type became effective.
- New High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) deductible amount
- The new deductible you must meet before the HDHP will begin to cover medical expenses.
- New High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) coverage began
- Choose the insurance coverage type for your new HDHP. Your choices are 'Family' or 'Single'.
- Loss of coverage
- Check here if you lost your high-deductible health plan during the current year. Cancelling or losing your HDHP will impact your current year's allowable contribution. The allowable amount is pro-rated for the number of months that the plan is in force. Note that if your plan started in the previous year, and was not in force for the entire 12 months, you may have to pay a penalty on any contributions over a pro-rated monthly amount. Contribution rules allow for a full year's contribution even if your plan started mid-year. However, if you cancel your plan within 12 months of the end of that first year, you may owe a penalty on contributions that exceeded the pro-rated amount. This calculation does not include any taxes or penalties due from previous year's contributions.
- Last month of High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)
- Select the last full month that your coverage was in force. Your allowable contribution will be pro-rated for the number of months you had a HDHP.
