HSA reimbursements and record keeping (Lively)

[jpdx]

I have a HSA through Lively (now with $0 fees!). I would like some recommendations on record keeping for qualified medical expenses.

Should I enter my expenses and upload receipts into the Lively interface OR should I just keep track on my own with a spreadsheet? I don't want to do both. When it comes time to seek reimbursement, am I required to enter each expense through their interface or can I reimburse a lump sum from my spreadsheet? If I enter receipts through their website, can I export my data just to be safe?

[terran]

I would keep track of things yourself. Never know when you might need/want to switch providers.

[EscapedApe]

I have a HSA through Lively (now with $0 fees!). I would like some recommendations on record keeping for qualified medical expenses.

Should I enter my expenses and upload receipts into the Lively interface OR should I just keep track on my own with a spreadsheet? I don't want to do both. When it comes time to seek reimbursement, am I required to enter each expense through their interface or can I reimburse a lump sum from my spreadsheet? If I enter receipts through their website, can I export my data just to be safe?

I always prefer keeping my on records. I digitize (scan) all receipts, and keep physical copes as well. My digital record is also fault-protected (RAID drive) in case of computer drive failure.

I know that sounds like a pain in the ass, but remember: this is your money. If you're not willing to put effort to protect it, then what ARE you willing to put effort towards?

[DadJokes]

I added a spreadsheet to my finance Google Sheet, in which I track all the items I will potentially need for reimbursement: date of service/purchase, what the service/item was, provider, amount, date of payment, payment method, as well as links to the bill and receipt, which I also store in Google Drive.

My physical records are crap, so I'd have a really hard time reproducing everything if Google Drive ever dumped my stuff.

[Nothlit]

The HSA provider isn't required to validate your claims for reimbursement, so you shouldn't need to upload anything to Lively. Just keep track of everything yourself in case the IRS comes knocking.

[chasesfish]

I second the Google Drive / Google Sheets recommendation. 

[TeacherStacking10s]

Thanks for asking the question. I am in the process of switching to Fidelity and I was wondering the exact same thing

[nburns]

I keep a hard copy of all receipts, take a picture of them, create a pdf from the pictures, and log all the transactions on a spreadsheet so I have 4 ways to access them.  Chances are in many years the receipts will fade and it won't be a reliable form of validation so keeping a pdf copy/image is most important.

[talltexan]

I just pay any expense below about $200.

I have a paper copy of each receipt above that amount.

[Scandium]

I have a HSA through Lively (now with $0 fees!). I would like some recommendations on record keeping for qualified medical expenses.

Should I enter my expenses and upload receipts into the Lively interface OR should I just keep track on my own with a spreadsheet? I don't want to do both. When it comes time to seek reimbursement, am I required to enter each expense through their interface or can I reimburse a lump sum from my spreadsheet? If I enter receipts through their website, can I export my data just to be safe?

I always prefer keeping my on records. I digitize (scan) all receipts, and keep physical copes as well. My digital record is also fault-protected (RAID drive) in case of computer drive failure.

I know that sounds like a pain in the ass, but remember: this is your money. If you're not willing to put effort to protect it, then what ARE you willing to put effort towards?

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

[EscapedApe]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

[DadJokes]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

Cloud data is a bit more secure than just being stored on someone else's computer. I'd venture a guess that the data is stored in different servers in different locations, so that a single incident couldn't wipe the data.

However, I do have a concern about storing all of my information on Google Drive, because I hate the thought of leaving my storage & security entirely outside of my control. Manually backing up the data every time I make a change is tedious, but I think I might start doing my own backups quarterly. I could just copy everything on Google Drive onto an external hard drive at home.

[Scandium]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

I expected the tin-foil hats to come out.. So I assume you store it only on an air-gapped server in a safe in your home? All cloud providers have vastly more resources to protect against hackers than you do, so having this connected to the internet would be foolish. Crashplan (since it's what I use) have all data encrypted both in transfer and on their servers. https://www.code42.com/security/
If that's not enough you can always encrypt the data yourself and upload, for example a truecrypt container. I've done this for a set of personal and financial information. The bills for my flu shot and kids routine visits aren't of concern though. 

It's all about probabilities, I consider it much less likely that these major firms (or course chosen wisely) will sell, or loose, my data than my house burning down or me spilling a beer into my server.

[EscapedApe]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

Cloud data is a bit more secure than just being stored on someone else's computer. I'd venture a guess that the data is stored in different servers in different locations, so that a single incident couldn't wipe the data.

However, I do have a concern about storing all of my information on Google Drive, because I hate the thought of leaving my storage & security entirely outside of my control. Manually backing up the data every time I make a change is tedious, but I think I might start doing my own backups quarterly. I could just copy everything on Google Drive onto an external hard drive at home.

I'm not talking about back-up reliability. I'm literally talking about storing your personal, sensitive medical information on someone else's computer. I don't care what kind of redundancy methods they use. Privacy is the issue, not fault tolerance.

[EscapedApe]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

I expected the tin-foil hats to come out.. So I assume you store it only on an air-gapped server in a safe in your home? All cloud providers have vastly more resources to protect against hackers than you do, so having this connected to the internet would be foolish. Crashplan (since it's what I use) have all data encrypted both in transfer and on their servers. https://www.code42.com/security/
If that's not enough you can always encrypt the data yourself and upload, for example a truecrypt container. I've done this for a set of personal and financial information. The bills for my flu shot and kids routine visits aren't of concern though. 

It's all about probabilities, I consider it much less likely that these major firms (or course chosen wisely) will sell, or loose, my data than my house burning down or me spilling a beer into my server.

Large telecoms and web service providers are a single target for a hacker to attack. There's more to be gained by trying to breech a single, large source of information than there is of someone targeting you specifically, unless they know you.

Just ask Equifax.

[DadJokes]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

Cloud data is a bit more secure than just being stored on someone else's computer. I'd venture a guess that the data is stored in different servers in different locations, so that a single incident couldn't wipe the data.

However, I do have a concern about storing all of my information on Google Drive, because I hate the thought of leaving my storage & security entirely outside of my control. Manually backing up the data every time I make a change is tedious, but I think I might start doing my own backups quarterly. I could just copy everything on Google Drive onto an external hard drive at home.

I'm not talking about back-up reliability. I'm literally talking about storing your personal, sensitive medical information on someone else's computer. I don't care what kind of redundancy methods they use. Privacy is the issue, not fault tolerance.

I understand that many people want their medical records to be kept private. That's not a concern to me. I don't believe that it will adversely affect me if my medical records aren't private.

[EscapedApe]

I understand that many people want their medical records to be kept private. That's not a concern to me. I don't believe that it will adversely affect me if my medical records aren't private.

Indeed. And I realize I'm a little more paranoid than most. But I've had some bad experiences in the past with government strong-arming private organizations.

There will always be a trade-off between convenience and security. Each person has to decide what they're comfortable with.

[Scandium]

But this does not protect you in case of corrupted data, accidental delete, lighting strike, or your house burning down.. I say just upload to dropbox, google drive, onedrive, carbonite, crashplan or any of the others (or all of them if you're paranoid). Much safer and even less hassle.

That seems like a good idea, until you remember that what we call "the cloud" is really someone else's computer.

"Back up your personal medical information by storing it on someone else's computer."

I expected the tin-foil hats to come out.. So I assume you store it only on an air-gapped server in a safe in your home? All cloud providers have vastly more resources to protect against hackers than you do, so having this connected to the internet would be foolish. Crashplan (since it's what I use) have all data encrypted both in transfer and on their servers. https://www.code42.com/security/
If that's not enough you can always encrypt the data yourself and upload, for example a truecrypt container. I've done this for a set of personal and financial information. The bills for my flu shot and kids routine visits aren't of concern though. 

It's all about probabilities, I consider it much less likely that these major firms (or course chosen wisely) will sell, or loose, my data than my house burning down or me spilling a beer into my server.

Large telecoms and web service providers are a single target for a hacker to attack. There's more to be gained by trying to breech a single, large source of information than there is of someone targeting you specifically, unless they know you.

Just ask Equifax.

If you're that paranoid there's not much you can do (and I'm pretty paranoid myself).. What about the encryption they use, and/or you can use yourself?

How do you provide continuous off site backup then?