A health savings account, or HSA, is a way to help pay for your healthcare costs and saving on your taxes. When you have California health insurance that has an HSA option, you have the ability to set up an account that you can fund with pretax income. What this means is that the money you put into your HSA is not subject to income tax, and you can spend it on eligible healthcare expenses.
Your HSA can earn interest that is not subject to tax, either. And at the end of the year, the balance in your HSA will be rolled over to the following year. Even if you stop contributing to your HSA, you can continue to use the balance for qualifying medical expenses. If you know you have a medical expense coming up, such as elective surgery or dental care, you can contribute to your HSA and use the balance to pay for the procedure.
Depending on how your HSA has been set up in conjunction with your medical insurance plan, you may have checks, a debit card, or even a smart card, which can tell you if your medical expenses are eligible. In 2012, individuals are able to contribute up to $3100 to an HSA, while families may contribute up to $6250. If you are over 55 years old, you can add another $1000 on to those totals.
When you have the option to choose your own California health insurance plan, you may want to consider one that has an HSA option. This can help you in planning for and paying for upcoming medicals expenses. The experts at Benefit Packages can help you go over qualifying plans with HSAs, and choose the one that suits your needs.