A Major Benefit of HSAs – Tax Advantages

HSA stands for Health Savings Account. With an HSA, you can place money into a personal bank account to help pay for medical expenses. This gives you more control over the health care dollars you spend. In addition, HSA plans may help you save money on taxes.

Here’s how an HSA works:

• The money you put into your account, which you set up at a participating bank, is tax deductible.
• Interest earned is tax-free, giving you more money to use for your health care needs.
• When you need to withdraw money for qualified expenses, the money is income tax-free.
• Any money that you don’t use by the end of the calendar year moves into the next year and continues to earn interest — you don’t have to worry about “using it or losing it.”

BCBSOK is not an expert on tax or investment advice, so please be sure to talk to a qualified tax and/or investment advisor for details on HSA accounts. To be eligible to establish and maintain a Health Savings Account, you must meet the requirements in the regulations established by the Internal Revenue Service. In order to establish a Health Savings Account: you cannot be claimed as a dependent under another person’s income tax return; and you cannot be covered by a health plan, other than a qualifying high deductible health plan, which provides any of the same benefits as this Health Check HSA plan.