- Individual or Family Health
- Group Health Coverage
Access to Affordable Health Insurance
April 15th, we all know the date. And as it looms large barely a month away, many Americans are starting to think more and more about opening a Health Savings Account; or HSA; in addition to or instead of other more traditional Tax Deferred accounts.
HSAs' are specialized tax deferred accounts where you can deposit funds in pretax dollars, to pay for qualified medical expenses. These can be medical expenses that are not covered by your medical insurance policy such as eyeglasses or dental care, or funds may be withdrawn from an HSA to pay out of pocket expenses to meet deductibles or co-pay obligations. Available since 2004, HSA's have become increasingly more popular, not only as a vehicle for affordable health insurance but as a tax deferred retirement plan, because funds that are put into an HSA that are not withdrawn for medical expenses simply grow as they do in a traditional IRA or other annuity. Experts in the industry say that the typical customer with an HSA and a high deductible health insurance plan can save as much as $1000.00 or more in taxes, while cutting the costs of their medical insurance premiums by as much as 40%.
And yet with Tax Season already here many consumers are still very confused about HSA's and what their options are regarding them. In effort to help some states like Colorado are offering special seminars between now and April 15th to educate consumers about Health Savings Account and taxes. Colo-health an online Colorado Health Insurance Agency, will be offering free online tele-seminars explaining HSA's. Colo-health also owns and operates HSA for America a leading online resource about Health Saving Accounts.
Unlike with an IRA there is no minimum deposit required for an HSA, and you can deposit 100% of the funds to pay for your deductible up to $2850 for individuals $5650.00 for families. But no matter what amount you chose to deposit into or open an HSA with, as long as it is done by April 15th it is considered an "above the line" tax deduction for the previous year's income taxes. That means that even if you do not itemize and only take the standard deduction you still get a federal income tax deduction for the money you put in. The HSA deduction is available to anyone who has or opens an HSA, regardless of level of income or source of his or her income.