2

We have had a HSA acct for a number of years. If I got a qualifing procedure done in the year 2018 can I pay in 2019? Is there any rollover amount from one year to another.

JTP - Apologise to Monica
  • 172,273
  • 34
  • 296
  • 560
user87953
  • 21
  • 1

1 Answers1

4

FSAs are use-it-or-lose it. HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) do not expire.

From the Fidelity article 3 healthy habits for health savings accounts

Unlike health flexible spending accounts (FSAs), HSAs are not subject to the "use-it-or-lose-it" rule. Any unused funds may be used to pay for future qualified medical expenses.

JTP - Apologise to Monica
  • 172,273
  • 34
  • 296
  • 560
RonJohn
  • 50,666
  • 10
  • 106
  • 170
  • 3
    You can actually delay even further into the future, while the money in the HSA bears tax-free interest (if you can afford to not touch it). Taking the reimbursement for qualified spending has no time limit. – Aganju Jul 13 '19 at 04:45
  • To clarify what Aganju said, suppose you pay for this expense yourself in 2019 and don't take money from the HSA to pay it, but later you are short on cash in, say, 2025, you can take money out of the HSA then, and claim it against this expense that you paid in 2019 for the procedure done in 2018, so you would take money out tax free, even though it's years after you actually paid for the expense. – user102008 Jul 13 '19 at 17:50
  • @user102008 why would anyone want to do that? Retaining all that paperwork and remembering what you did would be an extreme hassle. – RonJohn Jul 13 '19 at 20:18
  • 1
    @RonJohn: You can basically treat it as a retirement account with tax-free growth and withdraw money tax-free if you need it in an emergency, as long as the money you withdraw is less than the total medical expenses incurred between when the HSA was first set up and when you withdraw. Withdrawing it later means the money has longer to grow, and you are effectively withdrawing a smaller portion of it than if you withdrew it earlier for the actual medical expense. – user102008 Jul 14 '19 at 01:45
  • @user102008 an interesting idea. You'd still have to keep track of all your expenses, so that "the money you withdraw is less than the total medical expenses incurred between when the HSA was first set up and when you withdraw". – RonJohn Jul 14 '19 at 02:07