Health Savings Accounts continue to grow in popularity for employers, and many don’t realize it’s also an account that people can open on their own at JD Bank for their healthcare needs. With the right type of health insurance, an accompanying HSA can help individuals save on healthcare expenses as well as build a nest egg for retirement, not unlike a 401(k).
An HSA offers triple-tax advantages: the contributions are tax-free, the earnings are tax-free, and withdrawals for eligible expenses are tax-free. An HSA account with JD Bank grows annually and remains with you as the account holder, regardless of career changes. While an HSA can help limit your medical costs, reduce taxable income and even help plan for retirement, to be eligible for an HSA it must be teamed with a qualifying, High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).
Click here to apply for a JD Bank HSA Account
Every dollar you put into your HSA from a payroll deduction are dollars you don’t have to pay taxes on. Post-tax contributions are deductible on your tax returns. The interest or investment income in your HSA is tax free as well. Even if you change to a non-HSA health plan one day, the funds that have accumulated can still be applied to qualifying medical expenses.
An HSA offers tremendous flexibility, in that it is your account, and how you manage it for your healthcare needs. The funds are always immediately available to you for qualified medical expenses. There is no limit to how large your HSA can grow over time, how much you use on eligible expenses, or how much you choose not to use until it’s needed. These funds do not expire.
A Health Savings Account allows individuals – or employees of a company – to contribute money to their account pre-tax. This helps build funds to cover any eligible healthcare expenses from that account until reaching their deductible. However, to be eligible for an HSA, the most important caveat is you must be enrolled in a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). According to the IRS, an HDHP in 2020 must have a health insurance minimum deductible of $1,400 per year for self-coverage and $2,800 for a family plan.
Click here to apply for a JD Bank HSA Account
The limits that can be contributed to an HSA in pre-tax money for medical expenses in 2020 are $3,550 and $7,100, respectively. Similar to 401(k) and IRA contributions, if you are age 55 or older, you can contribute an extra $1,000 to your HSA. Employees or individuals can make their HSA contributions at any time during the year, but to maximize their contributions, breaking it down into monthly contributions through a pre-tax payroll deduction can make the process easier to manage. Since HSAs are tied to HDHPs, the annual out-of-pocket expenses for an HDHP this year cannot exceed $6,900 for self-only coverage, or $13,800 for family coverage.
Your employer can make contributions to your HSA, as can family members, or any other person. This applies whether you are employed, self-employed or unemployed. Again, the flexibility of an HSA is one of its greatest features, as is that the funds always roll over into the next year – and earn interest. The maximum amount you can put in includes any employer contributions – to encourage participation some employers will also contribute – so be sure to understand whether your company is making deposits on your behalf.
However, that the Health Savings Account from JD Bank provides triple-tax advantages may be its most notable benefit, as the contributions, withdrawals for eligible expenses and earnings are all tax-free.
Click here to apply for a JD Bank HSA Account
For local employers looking to partner with JD Bank for a consumer-driven health plan, an HSA is a sound option for your workforce that puts participants in greater control of their healthcare.
It’s important to understand the HSA qualified expenses. Generally, HSA funds can be used to pay for doctor and dentist visits, prescription medications, and treatments. Typically, this includes eyeglasses, nursing care, lab fees and medical devices, but not health club fees or cosmetic surgery.
Since the money you contribute to an HSA will never expire, there are those who save their Health Savings Account funds primarily for medical needs during retirement, even if you are covered by Medicaid at that time. Once you reach age 65, most people can no longer contribute to an HSA, so there is a limited window to take advantage of this savings plan.
If you are age 65 or older, you may withdraw money from an HSA for any purpose other than qualified expenses and only have to pay income tax on that amount. However, if you are under age 65 and withdraw money from your HSA for any purpose other than qualified expenses, you will have to pay income tax on that amount as well as a 20% penalty.
-JDB