Health Savings Accounts are simple and easy to understand

Health Savings Account is a tax-favored savings account combined with a qualifying high-deductible health insurance plan.  By allowing you to deposit tax-deductible funds into a health savings account that you can use to cover medical costs, Health Savings Accounts enable you to take control of your own health care decisions.  One of the key aspects to health savings accounts is a system that is responsive primarily to individual consumers, rather than to third-party payers. This concept is known as consumer driven health care.

First, you must have a high-deductible health insurance plan that qualifies to be partnered with a Health Savings Account. These plans are available through various insurance companies, depending upon what part of the country you live. The plans are all similar in the fact that they have deductibles (for 2012) between $1,200 and $6,050 for singles, and between $2,400 and $12,100 for families.

Once your insurance policy has become effective, you may begin to fund your Health Savings Account.

Health Savings Accounts allow you to legally avoid federal income tax by depositing (in 2012) up to $3,100 for singles or $6,250 for families, into your Health Savings Account. For 2011, you could deposit up to $3,050 for singles or $6,150 for families,whatever you deposit into your account up to April 15, 2012 is an "above the line" tax deduction for your 2011 taxes, meaning you get a federal income tax deduction for money you put in even if you take the standard deduction and don’t itemize deductions. If your employer makes a Health Savings Account contribution for you, it is “excluded” from income, and not subject to any income tax or FICA. Either way, this will immediately reduce your federal income tax due for the year. Most states also allow you to take a state income tax deduction for HSA contributions.  To see if your state offers tax deductions, please see our HSA State Income Tax page.

On this site you will find thorough information on Health Savings Accounts, HSA trustees and administrators, and instant quotes on available HSA-qualified high deductible health insurance plans.

Please note: To obtain the maximum tax benefit from your Health Savings Account in 2012 you will want to have your HSA-qualified insurance plan effective  immediately.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Banks on Health Savings Account Plans
Blue Cross Blue Shield members now have their own bank, but it won't help them if they're looking for an auto loan or a good rate on a CD. Blue Healthcare Bank's sole purpose is handling health care-related banking services, such as Health Savings Accounts. The bank is being set up by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association members, including Blue Cross of Idaho, one of the first four members to work with the bank.

Safeguard your health-care dollars
More Americans are paying more of their health-care costs out of pocket every year because they lack insurance, have higher deductibles and co-payments, or have chosen a Health Savings Account plan.

The Error-Proof Portfolio: The Do-It-Yourself Health Savings Account
Skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs call for creating a separate fund to defray these expenses.

The HSA in a nutshell
The HSA is a savings account for out-of-pocket medical expenses. Created in 2003 to incentivize self-managed health care, it is meant to be used in conjunction with a high deductible health plan (with a deductible of at least $1,200 for self-only coverage or $2,400 for family coverage). read more

Health savings accounts are getting a closer look
Will a consumer-managed health plan really provide incentive for you to be healthier or more conscientious about what you pay for health care? It could. But with the ever-spiraling premiums of prepaid health care, that question might not matter going forward. read more

First Person: Why I Love My Health Savings Account
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Blue Cross Blue Shield Approved to Start Health Savings Account Bank
Blue Cross Blue Shield has received federal approval to establish a savings bank that will be allowed to administer Health Savings Accounts.  Blue Cross Blue Shield said it had received assent from the Office of Thrift Supervision, a Treasury Department agency, to establish a federally insured savings bank to be based in Utah.  It will be called Blue Healthcare Bank.  Health Savings Accounts can be set up by consumers who have high-deductible insurance plans, and Blue Cross Blue Shield offers some of the most competitive HSA plans on the market.

Humana to Cap Health Savings Account Premiums for More Than One Year
After years of double-digit premium increases for employers providing health plans to workers, Humana and other insurers are trying a different approach: new health savings account plans that cap premium hikes at guaranteed low rates if buyers agree to a multiyear contract and workers absorb increases in deductibles.  Even doctors known to be skeptical of almost anything the health insurance industry suggests say they are intrigued with the health savings account idea - hoping it might be one remedy for unpredictable, rising health care costs.