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4000 - Advisory Opinions
Inquiry regarding deposit insurance coverage of Medical Savings
Accounts
FDIC--98--3
June 22, 1998
Joseph A. Genova Jr., Senior Regional Attorney
Your letter of February 26, 1998, addressed to the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation has been referred to me for response. In that
letter, you inquired about the deposit insurance coverage for Medical
Savings Accounts ("MSAs") established pursuant to section 220 of
the Internal Revenue Code ("I.R.C."), 26 U.S.C. § 220. Included
with your letter were copies of several commercially available forms
which a financial institution can use in establishing an MSA, rolling
funds into and out of an MSA, and obtaining distributions from an MSA.
As we understand it, section 220 permits a deduction from income for
individuals who are covered by "high deductible" health plans and
who set aside no more than a designated amount of funds each year to
cover any qualified medical expenses incurred by the individual, the
individual's spouse, and any dependents. 26 U.S.C. §§ 220(a) and
(b). The MSA must be established in the United States by means of a
written trust instrument and must be established exclusively for the
purpose of paying the qualified medical expenses of the account holder
or other qualified beneficiaries. 26 U.S.C. § 220(d)(1). The trustee
of such trust must be a bank, an insurance company, or a person
approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. 26 U.S.C. § 220(d)(2). Any
distribution to the MSA owner which is not for qualified medical
expenses would be taxable. 26 U.S.C. § 220(f).
Summary
• An MSA most commonly would be considered, for purposes
of deposit insurance coverage, an individual-ownership account of the
individual who establishes the MSA. As such, funds in the MSA would be
added to any funds the same individual holds in other
individual-ownership accounts at the same insured depository
institution and be insured (for the principal and any interest earned
on the accounts) up to $100,000 if the depository institution failed.
• When an individual establishes an MSA and designates
the account as payable on death to a "qualifying beneficiary"
(i.e., his or her spouse, child or grandchild), the MSA
would qualify as a revocable trust account for deposit insurance
purposes, if the other applicable FDIC requirements are satisfied.
• If an employer establishes an MSA for an employee
(assuming this is permissible under the I.R.C.), the account would be
treated as an employee benefit plan account for deposit insurance
purposes. As such, the MSA would be insured separately from other types
of accounts (i.e., those that are not employee benefit plan
accounts) that the employee may hold at the same insured depository
institution.
{{12-31-98 p.4984.32}}
Discussion
1. Individual-Ownership Accounts
Section 330.5 of the FDIC Rules and Regulations ("Rules"), 12
C.F.R. § 330.5, provides that funds owned by a natural person and
deposited into one or more deposit accounts in his or her own name at
an FDIC-insured depository institution are added together and insured
up to $100,000 in the aggregate. Thus, unless they qualify
for separate deposit insurance coverage under one of the other sections
in Part 330 of the Rules, funds which an individual deposits in an MSA
would be insured as an individual-ownership account.
2. Revocable Trust Accounts
You specifically have asked whether an MSA might be insured as a
revocable trust account under section 330.8 of the Rules, 12 C.F.R.
330.8. By definition, a MSA must be a trust. I.R.C. § 220(d)(1).
Since the owner can, subject to prescribed tax consequences, use the
funds in the MSA account at any time, it is a revocable trust. The MSA
Adoption Agreement, which was included with your letter, contains a
block where the account holder can name one or more beneficiaries. To
qualify for separate deposit insurance coverage, a revocable
trust account must meet the following kinship and recordkeeping
requirements:
A. The named beneficiary must be the owner's spouse, child or
grandchild (qualified
beneficiary). 1
B. The owner's intention that, upon his or her death, the
funds belong to the named beneficiary must be manifested in the title
of the account using commonly accepted terms such as "in trust
for," "as trustee for," or "payable on death" or the
abbreviations for those terms, "ITF," "ATF," "POD."
C. The beneficiary must be specifically identified by name in
the deposit account records of the depository institution.
D. A qualified beneficiary, at the death of the last owner,
must have a vested or non-contingent interest in the trust.
Under section 330.8 of the Rules, accounts which meet these
requirements are insured up to $100,000 for each qualifying beneficiary
separately from any other accounts of the owner or beneficiary in the
same institution. Notably, where a beneficiary has an interest in more
than one revocable trust account established by the same
owner, the beneficiary's interest in all such revocable trust
accounts will be added together and the total will be
insured up to $100,000.
An MSA titled, "John Doe, Medical Savings Account, payable on
death to . . ." would satisfy requirement B. If the beneficiaries
are specifically named in the institution's deposit account records
(e.g., in the title of the account), it would also satisfy
requirement C.
3. Employee Benefit Plan Accounts
In your letter you also asked whether an MSA might be insured as an
employee benefit plan account under section 330.12 of the Rules, 12
C.F.R. 330.12. Section 330.12(a), among other things, provides
"pass-through" deposit insurance coverage for "any deposits of
an employee benefit plan." Section 330.12(g)(2) of the Rules states
that, for deposit insurance purposes, the term "employee benefit
plan" has: the same meaning given to such term in section 3(3) of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (29 U.S.C.
1002) and includes any plan described in section 401(d) of the
I.R.C. 2
[Footnote added.]
As defined in 29 U.S.C. § 1002(3), the term "employee benefit
plan" means an
{{2-29-00 p.4984.33}}"employee welfare benefit plan"
or an "employee pension benefit
plan" 3
or both. The term "employee welfare benefit plan" is defined at
29 U.S.C. § 1002(1) as:
any plan, fund, or program which was heretofore or is
hereafter established or maintained by an employer or by an
employee organization, or both, to the extent that such plan,
fund, or program was established or is maintained for the purpose of
providing for its participants or their beneficiaries, through the
purchase of insurance or otherwise, (A) medical, surgical, or hospital
care or benefits, or benefits in the event of sickness, accident,
disability, death or unemployment, or vacation benefits, apprenticeship
or other training programs, or day care centers, scholarship funds, or
prepaid legal services. . . . . .
Emphasis added.
It appears that the typical MSA is established by an individual
employee and, therefore, would not qualify for deposit insurance
coverage as an employee benefit plan account under 12 C.F.R. 330.12 of
the Rules. If under the I.R.C., however, an employer or employee
organization is permitted to establish an MSA for an employee, and if
the employee's interest in the MSA is non-contingent, funds in the
employee's MSA would be eligible for separate insurance as an employee
benefit plan account under section 330.12 of the Rules.
MSA Established by a Self-Employed Individual
Although you have not specifically requested our views on the
deposit insurance coverage of an MSA established by a self-employed
individual, we believe the foregoing analysis would apply equally to
such an MSA. Thus, if a self-employed individual establishes an MSA as
either an individual-ownership account or a revocable trust account,
then the MSA would be eligible for deposit insurance under the analysis
discussed above for those types of accounts. Likewise, if the
self-employed individual establishes an MSA as an employee benefit plan
account, then the analysis provided above on that type of account would
apply.
Please note that the views expressed in this letter are based on and
limited to the information and materials that you have provided to us,
as well as our review of the applicable provisions of the I.R.C.
Different facts and, in particular, different MSA trust agreements
might lead to different conclusions on the deposit insurance coverage
of MSAs. Feel free to call me at (816) 234-8042 with any other
questions or comments.
1If an MSA trust owner fails to name a beneficiary, he or she
will be the primary beneficiary of funds in the trust. For deposit
insurance purposes, the owner cannot be a qualified beneficiary of
his/her own trust. Under section 330.8(b) of the Rules, the funds in
such a trust would be treated as an individually owned account of the
owner. Go Back to Text
2I.R.C. § 401, authorizes the establishment of retirement
accounts. Section 401(d) lists additional requirements which are
applicable when such accounts benefit owner-employees. Neither section
401 nor 401(d) is applicable here because MSAs are not established for
retirement purposes. Go Back to Text
3An MSA would not be an "employee pension benefit plan"
because it is not established for retirement purposes. Go Back to Text
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