[Hidden-tech] Looking for answers to health savings account questions

[Wendy Marsden]

​Hi Andy,

​
Terran gave a good answer. I usually refer people to HSA
​B
ank
​​
, but some of the larger banks around here offer them.  I love HSAs.

But you have to have an "HSA-eligible high deductible health insurance
plan" and not be eligible for a Flexible Spending Account. In practice they
are very rare through employer plans, particularly in MA where
high-deductible plans weren't considered conforming as "creditable
coverage" under RomneCare.

I have seen some nice employer plans where the employer sets up the HSA and
starts funding it in lieu of offering higher cost heath insurance plans.
Then the employee can top it off before April 15th the next year the same
way they funded an IRA.

​I love HSAs as the best possible way to save for retirement: you get a
deduction for putting the money in, you can grab it back out if you have a
medical catastrophe, and in retirement it comes out tax-free.  Tax
deduction going in, tax-free coming out: it's the best of all worlds.

​Generally I don't recommend people get High Deductible Health Insurance
Plans if they anticipate needing a lot of medical care.  But if it turns
out you do, putting the money in the HSA and then taking it back out again
right away would be a way to get your medical expenses deducted above the
Adjusted Gross Income line.  (I think this is what you were aiming for.)​

​

I would love to talk more about the retirement savings strategies you can
do with HSAs if you want to email me separately.


​
-- Wendy Marsden, CPA, CFP®

-- Tea & Taxes Company

-- P.O. Box 473

-- Greenfield, MA 01302
-- (413) 772-1918

On Dec 5, 2014 8:58 PM, "Andy Klapper" <andytk at charter.net> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> Sigh.  It looks like this will not be possible (I’d love to hear
> otherwise).  The requirements not only say that you have to have a high
> deductible plan, but that you cannot be covered by another health plan.  So
> it is not possible, as I was hoping, to get a dirt cheap doesn’t cover
> anything insurance plan and get an HSA attached to that plan without having
> to drop my wife’s plan.
>
>
>
> Thanks for the links Terran.
>
>
>
>
>
> Andy.
>
>
>
> Andy Klapper
>
> Asgard Technology Group, LLC
>
> Making Complex Software Simple
>
> Andy at Asgard-Tech.com
>
> (860) 805-1189 (cell)
>
>
>
> *From:* Terran Birrell [mailto:terranrb at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Friday, December 05, 2014 6:37 PM
> *To:* Andy Klapper
> *Cc:* Hidden-Tech Tech
> *Subject:* Re: [Hidden-tech] Looking for answers to health savings
> account questions
>
>
>
> It may be that the plans offered by your wife's company are not eligible
> for an HSA. You need to have a very specific kind of high deductible health
> insurance plan to be eligible. Here's some info about what sort of plan you
> would need to have:
> http://www.irs.gov/publications/p969/ar02.html#en_US_2013_publink1000204025
>
>
>
> Also, it seems like most HSA accounts are held by banks that do only that
> (at least those are the options with the plan we signed up of this year). I
> don't think most banks offer HSA's. Here's an example of one such HSA-only
> bank: http://www.hsabank.com/
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 4:59 PM, Andy Klapper <andytk at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Does anybody know of a resource I can talk to about health savings
> accounts?  The bank is unwilling or unable to answer any questions and my
> situation is not vanilla but probably not that unusual either.
>
>
>
> Background – health savings accounts allow you to save money tax free for
> medical expenses.  Unlike a FLEX spending plan money saved in a health
> savings account can be rolled over year after year.
>
>
>
> Normally a self-employed person like myself would get a cheap large
> deductible healthcare plan and couple that with a health savings account to
> cover things like flu shots and doctor’s visits.
>
>
>
> I already have insurance through my wife however but her plan doesn’t
> provide health savings accounts only FLEX spending plans.  My main reason
> for wanting such an account is because I’m thinking about some elective
> medical expenses next year but will not have a dollar figure before my wife
> has to lock in her FLEX amount.  Given that FLEX plans are use it or lose
> it setting it too high means lots of contacts and glasses at the end of the
> year to burn through left over money and setting it too low is a loss of
> tax savings.
>
>
>
> I am hoping that I can set up a health savings plan in January when I do
> know the amount.  There are many questions that I need answered and I’d
> rather not get an accountant for a questions that could be a simple, yes I
> can or no I cannot.  In fact I’m hoping that some resource for the
> self-employed, government or private, will be able to help me determine
> what is and what is not possible.
>
>
>
> So has anybody else been in my situation before or know of somebody I can
> call to get a couple of questions answered?
>
>
>
>
>
> Andy.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Andy Klapper
>
> Asgard Technology Group, LLC
>
> Making Complex Software Simple
>
> High Speed Multi-Threading Specialists
>
> 5 Anna Marie Lane
>
> East Longmeadow, MA 01028
>
> Andy at Asgard-Tech.com
>
> (860) 805-1189 (cell)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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