Investigating Individual Health Savings Accounts: Fact vs. Fiction

A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged account that lets you pay for your medical care or save and invest that money—income tax free. As a result, HSAs give you control over your health care decisions, mutual fund investment options, and valuable tax savings.

Many employers offer an HSA as part of their benefits package, but people don’t need to rely on an employer to open an HSA. Individual HSAs are a viable option for people in any station of life since they can help cover necessary health care spending and can grow for future savings. HSAs can be used to cover thousands of qualified medical items and services, and HSAs also earn interest that isn’t taxed at a federal level. The money invested in an individual HSA is also tax deductible, which means you get the taxes paid on that money back come tax season. (Pssst. Learn if you qualify for an Individual HSA here.)

While HSAs make it easy to manage your saving and spending, there are some old misconceptions hanging around. In this article, we take a look at fact vs. fiction to dispel myths surrounding HSAs and who could benefit from this type of health care benefit account!

There seems to be confusion surrounding how simple or hard it is to set up and use an HSA. Are HSAs complicated investment accounts? Do HSAs make it difficult to access money to pay for health care costs when you need it? Is setting up and understanding how to use an HSA too complex to bother? No! This is fiction. HSAs are simple! Read on to learn the facts about HSAs.

Fact: HSAs are easy to use! You can choose to pay using your payment card or pay using personal funds and get reimbursed later. Online tools, a mobile app, and helpful customer care gives you immediate access to the information you need.

According to America’s Health Insurance Plan, approximately 22 million Americans have an HSA, and balances of these accounts total more than $60 billion. Could 22 million people be wrong? We think that’s unlikely…and in this case, it demonstrates the national popularity of HSAs.

If you’re feeling nervous about it, take advantage of the many resources at your fingertips. To familiarize yourself, there are numerous videos and articles to help you along your way (like the eBook you can find at the end of this article). There may be questions on your mind already addressed in the form of FAQs like on using your account, or more involved ones about special circumstances, eligible expenses, tax information, and contribution limits. When in doubt, contact your HSA provider, because they have the answers!

Some people hear the word “health” in health savings account and think they will only benefit from an HSA if they spend a lot on medical costs. While it is true that HSA funds can only be used to pay for eligible health care expenses with a tax advantage before age 65, that does not mean that being in good health disqualifies you from the benefits of these accounts! HSAs can help cover unexpected medical bills, grow interest and be invested income tax-free, and can help pay for health care costs in retirement.

Fact: HSAs are for everyone, no matter your health status. HSAs are the perfect way to pay for your health, dental, and vision needs, whether they are pressing or not. There are thousands of eligible expenses for purchase with your account funds, including prescriptions, medical office copays, health insurance deductibles, and coinsurance.

Sickness aside, everyone can also use tax-advantaged dollars to pay for ordinary expenses like over-the-counter medication, sunscreen, and dentist appointments. In the 2020 Visa Annual Healthcare Research Survey about HSAs and usage, respondents shared that 64% of HSA costs were spent on doctor visits, 48% on dental, 40% on vision, and 26% on over-the-counter medications.

If you are currently healthy, take the opportunity now to build your funds for the future. The earlier you start building your HSA, the greater your balance grows for when you need it. If you are lucky enough to never need your HSA to pay for health care, you can use it for other expenses once you reach age 65, with tax payments applying.

See the list of eligible items and services:

Many people confuse HSAs with the other health care spending accounts like the flexible spending account (FSA) and health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) that don’t always allow funds to rollover year-to-year. This is totally understandable given all the acronyms floating around these days. However, HSA funds work more like a 401(k) in that the account stays with you throughout your career whether you change employers, jobs, or retire. So the idea that HSA funds expire is pure fiction!

Fact: HSA funds don’t expire. You own it, and you control it. Even if you change jobs or health plan coverage, you take your HSA with you. It’s yours to keep, even after you retire. Unlike FSAs, any unused HSA funds in your account at the end of the year are rolled over to the next year, with no limits. Any money you don’t use grows over time to provide for your future.

Want to know more about the benefits of an HSA?

This is just the tip of the HSA iceberg when it comes to fact vs. fiction, but to get it all straight, check out HSA Myth Busters: Get the Facts. This eBook is the resource you’ve been looking for to get all the details on exactly how an HSA works. It’s fresh, engaging, colorful—and designed to make reading about your health care benefits truly enjoyable…as long as you like reading non-fiction!