Pay Provider or reimburse yourself from the HSA?

[meleana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave J If I understand the regulations, you can not reimburse yourself for Medicare supplement premiums(ie: Plan G) . Someone correct me if I'm wrong. https://www.kiplinger.com/article/re...iums-paid.html

Thanks. Didn't know that. So I guess will be limited to Part B and the Part D. Part D already coming out of our HSA. The rest I was talking about taking from an HRA, not the HSA.



I know that the HRA allows premiums from Medicare plans to be reimbursed automatically in the HRA- so not sure about that one.


I wonder what the reasoning for this is exactly? I don't get it.

[imnontrad]

No problem with that strategy. Or you could pay out of pocket and keep the HSA money invested. Unless the law changes, you can use the HSA money to pay for Medicare premiums and you can keep investing it until then.

[Dave J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meleana Thanks. Didn't know that. So I guess will be limited to Part B and the Part D. Part D already coming out of our HSA. The rest I was talking about taking from an HRA, not the HSA. I know that the HRA allows premiums from Medicare plans to be reimbursed automatically in the HRA- so not sure about that one. I wonder what the reasoning for this is exactly? I don't get it.

I don't get it either. My SO has a retirement HRA from a megacorp that can reimburse for our Medicare plan G, so that is what we do and reimburse ourselves out of our HSA for our other stuff. Does not make any sense to me, but what can you do?

[Murph]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky I am thinking about paying for medical expenses with a credit card to earn rewards and then reimbursing yourself from the HSA. Are there any disadvantages?

I pay direct from my HSA (Fidelity). The "log" it creates for the transactions makes it easy to get records of who I paid should the "HSA police" (to quote someone else on this thread) come a-knockin'. If I pay myself, then I need to keep separate records. Bank cards websites might have a filter that would get you close, but I like having all that information in one place.

[Tiger8693]

Back to someones post about $100 EOB vs paying actual $85 after a discount. I don't know how in an audit the IRS would know that you paid $85 when you produce the EOB showing a bill of $100?

Also, as far as keeping exact receipts for what has been paid from the HSA, I guess I always assumed that if I started the HSA in 2015 for example, that as long as I had EOB's that exceeded what has been withdrawn that I would be good to go from IRS standpoint? My plan and what I have been doing is to electronically keep medical expenses from EOB's/Insurance website, and pull against that whenever I need to (haven't started pulling yet).

[gwraigty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger8693 Back to someones post about $100 EOB vs paying actual $85 after a discount. I don't know how in an audit the IRS would know that you paid $85 when you produce the EOB showing a bill of $100? Also, as far as keeping exact receipts for what has been paid from the HSA, I guess I always assumed that if I started the HSA in 2015 for example, that as long as I had EOB's that exceeded what has been withdrawn that I would be good to go from IRS standpoint? My plan and what I have been doing is to electronically keep medical expenses from EOB's/Insurance website, and pull against that whenever I need to (haven't started pulling yet).

An EOB simply tells you how much the provider is allowed to bill you. It's not proof of payment. Per the $100/$85 example, I'd guess that the IRS would be interested in seeing the bill for the $100 and a corresponding receipt for paying that $100. Since the receipt would only be for $85.00, I'd guess the IRS would only allow the $85 as a legitimate HSA reimbursement. Why would it be any different?

A similar example using the same numbers is when the EOB shows that the insurance was billed for $100, but only approves a negotiated rate of $85. The provider sends a bill for $85 and you pay the $85. This is how our insurance works. I've never been able to successfully negotiate a discount, because the insurance has already negotiated a discount for us, or that's what they say, anyway.

If you started your HSA in 2015, you can't reimburse yourself for expenses incurred before you opened up the HSA. A quick Google search confirms this from many sources.

[Tiger8693]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwraigty An EOB simply tells you how much the provider is allowed to bill you. It's not proof of payment. Per the $100/$85 example, I'd guess that the IRS would be interested in seeing the bill for the $100 and a corresponding receipt for paying that $100. Since the receipt would only be for $85.00, I'd guess the IRS would only allow the $85 as a legitimate HSA reimbursement. Why would it be any different? A similar example using the same numbers is when the EOB shows that the insurance was billed for $100, but only approves a negotiated rate of $85. The provider sends a bill for $85 and you pay the $85. This is how our insurance works. I've never been able to successfully negotiate a discount, because the insurance has already negotiated a discount for us, or that's what they say, anyway. If you started your HSA in 2015, you can't reimburse yourself for expenses incurred before you opened up the HSA. A quick Google search confirms this from many sources.

Yes, I meant to say keeping records from 2015 forward that I have paid without using HSA funds. I guess we will see if they accept the insurance records if/when they ever audit me to that level....

[RunningBum]

I've been keeping meticulous records of my medical expenses to someday be reimbursed, but last year I noticed that you're also supposed to also show that you've paid them. I've mostly only got the bills, not the payment. I've never received a cash discount, but still, if I were to get audited it might be a hassle.

I figure I may just use it mostly to pay medicare premiums and that should be easy to document, and if I need the money sooner, I'll have to take my chances. Might be able to dig up credit card and bank statements for at least some of them.

Chances of getting audited are slim, but I still want to have it be legit just in case. I sleep better that way.

[GreenER]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meleana Hubby, who just retired (65), has an HSA and now an HRA funded by his employer- just $60 per month. We always paid all medical expenses out of the HSA with the HSA Mastercard. We are now paying his Part D premiums from there and I reimburse myself for my retiree medical insurance premiums right now as they are very expensive. Might go on an ACA plan and then continue to reimburse myself from there for those premiums. For the HRA we will let it build up a bit as it just started and then I plan to use the money to reimburse ourselves for either some of his Medicare Premiums- part B or Plan G- or for dental visits, or out of pocket medical costs like co pays and prescriptions, etc. instead of using the HSA account as we have done in the past. I am not sure if the money all rolls over year to year, Something I have to check into since this is new to us.

It's my understanding that you can reimburse yourself from an HSA for Cobra premiums but otherwise insurance premiums for health insurance coverage are not considered a qualified medical expense and hence can't be reimbursed from an HSA. I wasn't sure if your "retiree health insurance" is Cobra or a plan that you've been allowed to buy into longer term.

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenER It's my understanding that you can reimburse yourself from an HSA for Cobra premiums but otherwise insurance premiums for health insurance coverage are not considered a qualified medical expense and hence can't be reimbursed from an HSA. I wasn't sure if your "retiree health insurance" is Cobra or a plan that you've been allowed to buy into longer term.

Here's what is HSA reimbursable in terms of insurance premiums:

"You cannot treat insurance premiums
as qualified medical expenses unless
the premiums are for:
1. Long-term care (LTC) insurance,
2. Health care continuation
coverage (such as coverage under
COBRA),
3. Health care coverage while
receiving unemployment compensation
under federal or state law, or
4. Medicare and other health care
coverage if you were 65 or older (other
than premiums for a Medicare
supplemental policy, such as Medigap)."

Source: Instructions for Form 8889, irs.gov

[pb4uski]

That aligns with my understanding... it just seems odd that premiums for Part B and Part D coverage would be qualified but that Medigap premiums would not be qualified... I'm not sure what the logic to that is.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski That aligns with my understanding... it just seems odd that premiums for Part B and Part D coverage would be qualified but that Medigap premiums would not be qualified... I'm not sure what the logic to that is.

Government rules...? logic??

[nvgs123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky I am thinking about paying for medical expenses with a credit card to earn rewards and then reimbursing yourself from the HSA. Are there any disadvantages?

If you can handle it, why reimburse when you can do this:
https://www.madfientist.com/ultimate...ement-account/