Managing healthcare budgets can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to balance the need to have adequate healthcare coverage against overspending and wasting money on insurance premiums you don’t use. If you live in Colorado, a Health Savings Account may be exactly what you’re looking for.
Customers at our Greeley, Wellington, Windsor, Julesburg and Haxton branches have been raving about the flexibility a HSA provides them when trying to plan your healthcare expenses. To open an HSA, talk to your Points West Community Bank local banking partner.
See why health savings accounts are quickly becoming a favorite tool for healthcare expense planning:
- High Deductible Health Plan: To qualify for an HSA, you must be enrolled in a qualifying HDHP that satisfies an annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense requirement. Most people enrolled in an HDHP know their options, but check with your employer to see if a HDHP is available for you.
- Tax-Free Contributions: Contributions to your HSA work similarly to contributions of a traditional IRA: Every dollar you put into your HSA is tax-free, essentially lowering your taxable income.
- Tax-Free Medical Payments: When you pay qualifying medical bills with your HSA, you don’t pay taxes on the distribution. This is a great way to stretch your healthcare budget! Pre-tax dollars go farther than taxed income in virtually every situation.
- What’s Covered? Pretty much anything healthcare related qualifies. Checkups, after-hours and emergency care, trips to the hospital, dental exams, chiropractors, optometrists … you get the picture.
- It’s Yours Forever: If your employer contributes to your health savings account in your name, that money is yours forever, no strings attached. Moving away from Windsor? No problem. Your HSA account can stay right here and be spent on healthcare expenses in your new home.
With the powerful tools a health savings account provides, it also comes with some rules, though they’re really easy to follow. If you use funds in your HSA for non-qualifying purchases, you’ll face a stiff bill on your taxes: Non-qualifying distributions are taxed as regular income, and an additional 20% penalty is levied on the amount you use.
For more information on how a Health Savings Account can benefit you or how to open one, please talk to your Points West Community Bank local banking partner.