HSA Compatible

[golfnut]

I looked all over the internet and can't find a conclusive answer for our situation.

Presently, my wife and I are covered thru ACA here in Illinois with BCBS. The plan is a PPO and HSA compliant.

For 2017, the BCBS plan cost has really gone up (no surprise). Looking in maybe going with a Cigna HMO which is far cheaper but not HSA Compliant.

- What does HSA Compliant really mean?

If we go with the non-compliant HMO:

-can we still contribute to our HSA this year to reduce our 2016 MAGI ?

- In 2017, can we pay our medical expenses with our HSA? I'm guessing we can't.

Any info here would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[mn54]

my interpretation would be that you could not make an hsa contribution in 2017. If your current insurance is hsa compliant then you can make an hsa contribution for this year. Any funds currently in an hsa could be used to pay bills in the future.

 

[audreyh1]

I looked all over the internet and can't find a conclusive answer for our situation.

Presently, my wife and I are covered thru ACA here in Illinois with BCBS. The plan is a PPO and HSA compliant.

For 2017, the BCBS plan cost has really gone up (no surprise). Looking in maybe going with a Cigna HMO which is far cheaper but not HSA Compliant.

- What does HSA Compliant really mean?

If we go with the non-compliant HMO:

-can we still contribute to our HSA this year to reduce our 2016 MAGI ?

- In 2017, can we pay our medical expenses with our HSA? I'm guessing we can't.

Any info here would be appreciated.

Thanks

You must be on an HSA compliant insurance plan each year to make contributions to your HSA that same year. [edited:] You can contribute to your HSA in 2016, but not in 2017 if you switch to an HSA non-compliant health insurance plan in 2017. (Actually, you can do some catch up contributions for 2016 before you file your taxes or April 15 in 2017 in the event you had not contributed the total amount allowed for 2016)

Yes - you can pay for your medical expenses in 2017 regardless of the type of health insurance you have. There are no restrictions in terms of using the HSA to pay for qualified medical expenses as long as those expenses are incurred after you opened your HSA.

Usually health insurance plans mention whether they are HSA compliant as part of the summary or high level description. They must have a high deductible in a certain range. They can allow no copays for doctor's visits, etc.

 

[RunningBum]

I looked all over the internet and can't find a conclusive answer for our situation.

Presently, my wife and I are covered thru ACA here in Illinois with BCBS. The plan is a PPO and HSA compliant.

For 2017, the BCBS plan cost has really gone up (no surprise). Looking in maybe going with a Cigna HMO which is far cheaper but not HSA Compliant.

- What does HSA Compliant really mean?

When I looked, I found that it must be high deductible, but there are also upper limits on out of pocket costs and many policies are exceeding this, keeping them from being HSA compliant. So a policy has to meet all the guidelines and min/max limits in order for you to be able to contribute to an HSA that year.

If we go with the non-compliant HMO:

-can we still contribute to our HSA this year to reduce our 2016 MAGI ?

Yes, you can contribute in 2016 for an HSA compliant policy you have in 2016. You will not be able to contribute in 2017. I think some people are misreading that you are asking about 2016.

- In 2017, can we pay our medical expenses with our HSA? I'm guessing we can't.

Yes, you can pay any qualified medical expenses incurred after you opened your HSA anytime.

 

[golfnut]

This forum is great, like always! Thanks for the helpful responses.

 

[jetpack]

I do wish that they'd be more straight forward w/ HSA compliant labeling. I'm getting mixed answers (on the same policy) on different sites listing 2017 plans... I don't even know where to find the info on my current plan.

 

[audreyh1]

For me when I researched the options at BCBSTX (the only insurance company offering individual plans in our area now) the plans that were HSA compliant were clearly marked as HSA compatible/compliant right up on the initial plans list they showed online.

Unless a policy spells that out in the summary, I think you can assume it is not.

 

[bingybear]

I do wish that they'd be more straight forward w/ HSA compliant labeling. I'm getting mixed answers (on the same policy) on different sites listing 2017 plans... I don't even know where to find the info on my current plan.

call the insurance company directly. That is how I get mostly correct information on the plans. When I'm looking at plans I call each insurer directly. Be careful of using information for healthcare.gov reps. Most I've talked with are not as knowledgeable as I would like on plan details.