Advantages of Health Savings Plans

It's important to weigh the advantages when choosing an HSA. The following is a list of benefits to consider when thinking about enrolling in a Health Savings Account:

• Ownership - Funds remain in your account year-to-year like an IRA. There are no "use it or lose it" rules for HSAs.
  
  
• Deductions - Individual contributions are allowed as a deduction even if you don’t itemize; employer contributions are excluded from income and wages.
  
  
• Savings - You can save the money in your account for future medical expenses and grow your account through tax free investment earnings.
  
  
• Flexibility - You can use the funds in your account to pay for current medical expenses that your insurance may not cover, or save the money for future needs such as:
  - Health Insurance or medical expenses if unemployed
  - Medical Expenses after retirement (before Medicare)
  - Long-term care expenses and insurance
  - Medicare premiums
  
  
• Affordability - You should be able to lower your health insurance premiums by switching to higher deductible coverage.
  
  
• Security - Your high deductible insurance and HSA protect you against high or unexpected bills.
  
  
• Control - You make all of the decisions about:
  - How much you put in the account
  - Whether to save the account for future expenses or pay current medical expenses
  - Which medical expenses to pay for with the account
  - Which company will hold the account
  - Whether to invest any of the money in the account and which investments to make
  
  
• Portability - You can keep your HSA even if you: change your job, change your medical coverage or become unemployed.

Take a few minutes to review a self-paced Online Briefing on HSAs.