The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Psychstache on January 15, 2013, 12:52:10 PM
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Hello to my favorite hairy-lipped community,
I have a quick question about Health Savings Accounts.
I am eligible to open up an HSA to go with my HDHP as of Jan 1, 2013. I was going to open up a single account after doing some research before a thought occurred to me: I am getting married in June.
A happy thought for sure, but it made me realize that I will likely be filing my 2012 taxes married jointly. the SO is not on a high deductible plan, and we have no plans to make any changes to our insurance once we get married.
Would I still be eligible to open an HSA account for myself even if I am married to, but not covered by, someone with a non-HDHP policy?
Thanks in advance!
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You would still be eligible to for the HSA so long as you are covered by the HDHP. The coverage spouse carries would not matter in this case.
My husband and I have the same situation; I've been doing the HSA thing for a few years while he continues with his PPO plan.
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Getting married may be a Qualified Event, which would allow you to make a one time change at that time to your benefits at that time.
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Hello to my favorite hairy-lipped community,
I have a quick question about Health Savings Accounts.
I am eligible to open up an HSA to go with my HDHP as of Jan 1, 2013. I was going to open up a single account after doing some research before a thought occurred to me: I am getting married in June.
A happy thought for sure, but it made me realize that I will likely be filing my 2012 taxes married jointly. the SO is not on a high deductible plan, and we have no plans to make any changes to our insurance once we get married.
Would I still be eligible to open an HSA account for myself even if I am married to, but not covered by, someone with a non-HDHP policy?
Thanks in advance!
Yes. Keep in mind though that you could still only contribute the individual contribution limit, not the family contribution limit.
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Yup, you're fine. I think it's helpful to think of the HSA and HDHP separately.
1. You need a HDHP before you can open an HSA.
2. The max amount you can put into an HSA is determined by how many months of the year (based on whether you're enrolled in a plan at the 1st of the month) you have an HDHP.
3. Once you've started an HSA, you don't need an HDHP to keep an HSA account open or use its funds later (you just can't add any more money until you enroll in an HDHP again).
So if you change your mind at some point and decide to get covered by your fiance's health insurance down the road, you can still keep your HSA open and use it at any point for your medical expenses. You just have to be careful about contributing the appropriate amount if you change plans mid-year (e.g. just half the annual max if you only enrolled in an HDHP for 6 months of the year and then switched to his plan). Plus I believe that you can even use it for your spouse's medical expenses, which could be handy.