HSA and Taxes

[havaneselover]

Hmm, OK, ours is managed different then. We pay for services up front and send in a bill, or submit the medical bill once we receive and then pay. We have to provide exact dates, who received the care and what type of care was received. Didn't realize there was such variations in HSA's.

Are you sure you don't have an FSA?

 

[Ava]

I've never been asked to provide a bill or EOB to my HSA. Most of the time I just use the debit card to pay the provider, so obviously there is a record of who I'm paying in those cases, but I can also request a reimbursement from my HSA account via direct deposit or mailed check. For those, I enter in the provider name, etc. manually. I don't know if the HSA verifies those claims, but I somewhat doubt it. It would be between me and the IRS if I used the funds for unqualified expenses.

 

[wendow]

Are you sure you don't have an FSA?

No, we used to have a FSA years ago. Now, we have an HSA and a HDHP. I love my HSA but it sounds so different from all of yours lol.

 

[wendow]

I can also request a reimbursement from my HSA account via direct deposit or mailed check. For those, I enter in the provider name, etc. manually.

This is what we do...reimbursed via direct deposit...but we do have to scan a copy of the bill and send it as an attachment.

 

[havaneselover]

No, we used to have a FSA years ago. Now, we have an HSA and a HDHP. I love my HSA but it sounds so different from all of yours lol.

They are the best because they're triple tax advantaged. Great retirement savings vehicle if you can deal with a hdhp. But yes, yours sounds different from mine (I set mine up myself through Wells Fargo).

 

[wendow]

They are the best because they're triple tax advantaged. Great retirement savings vehicle if you can deal with a hdhp. But yes, yours sounds different from mine (I set mine up myself through Wells Fargo).

OK, now you have me intrigued. I did not know you could set them up yourself. I thought it had to be through your employer. Do you have to have a HDHP to open an HSA?

I really do like the HSA over the FSA. My oldest dd got really sick last year and it took months of specialists and tests to figure out what was going on with her. We accumulated 4k in medical bills real fast since we are on a HDHP. We are currently submitting bills through our HSA from last summer and will be doing so for much of this year. SO glad we have that!

 

[havaneselover]

OK, now you have me intrigued. I did not know you could set them up yourself. I thought it had to be through your employer. Do you have to have a HDHP to open an HSA?

I really do like the HSA over the FSA. My oldest dd got really sick last year and it took months of specialists and tests to figure out what was going on with her. We accumulated 4k in medical bills real fast since we are on a HDHP. We are currently submitting bills through our HSA from last summer and will be doing so for much of this year. SO glad we have that!

Yes, as long as you have a HDHP you can have one. My employer doesn't contribute to it or offer one, so I had to do it myself. This means that it's not a payroll deduction (so I don't save the FICA and medicare taxes) but I take the deduction when I file my taxes. Wells Fargo was great because as long as you have $5000 in it there was no monthly fee and I bank with them anyway. I initially set it up to pay for the kids' braces, but the more I've learned about it the more I realized I need to max it out every year (as long as I'm maxing out the employer match on my 401k) because it's tax advantaged (more so than a 401k). It's the only reason I have a HDHP. We have another plan with a very similar premium and better coverage/lower deductible but I'm not giving up my ability to contribute to an HSA.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Yes, as long as you have a HDHP you can have one. My employer doesn't contribute to it or offer one, so I had to do it myself. This means that it's not a payroll deduction (so I don't save the FICA and medicare taxes) but I take the deduction when I file my taxes. Wells Fargo was great because as long as you have $5000 in it there was no monthly fee and I bank with them anyway. I initially set it up to pay for the kids' braces, but the more I've learned about it the more I realized I need to max it out every year (as long as I'm maxing out the employer match on my 401k) because it's tax advantaged (more so than a 401k). It's the only reason I have a HDHP. We have another plan with a very similar premium and better coverage/lower deductible but I'm not giving up my ability to contribute to an HSA.

When DH's employer first switched to HDHP 8 years ago, it was awful keeping up with all of the additional out of pocket costs, but now I feel the same as you. We do have enough money in the HSA to cover a couple years worth of deductibles, but DH will continue to contribute the maximum for the tax advantage. We only keep about $1,000 in the regular savings portion of the HSA, and move everything else over into investments. Right now, I'm not sure if that was a great idea, but hopefully the market recovers before we retire in 25-30 years.

For the actual medical spending portion, we have debit cards, which is very convenient, especially with having a child in another state for college. Her school doesn't charge for the visits, but she still needs to run prescriptions through insurance. Our administrator does not require any back up for reimbursment, but does give the option to upload receipts via their app for your own records.