Description

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are a growing phenomenon in financing for health care, with more than one-third of Americans with private health insurance covered by an HSA. Although HSAs have been around since 2004, many people still confuse them with other similar health benefit accounts, such as health flexible spending accounts (FSAs). In this two-hour program, we will provide an introduction to HSAs to help you understand the important fundamentals of who can participate in an HSA, how much they can contribute to their HSA each year, and how they can use their HSA to pay for health care expenses while saving money on their income taxes.

In this course, we will provide an overview of the HSA market and how it has evolved since 2004. Then, we will discuss how individuals become eligible to contribute to an HSA and how much they can contribute to an HSA each year. Finally, we will describe what HSA funds can be used for, and how both contributions and withdrawals are reported on the individual’s personal income tax return.

Instructor: Roy Ramthun

Target Audience

Any accounting and finance professional with health care needs or who may be advising clients about their health care needs

Course Objectives

Advise clients on the introductory aspects of HSAs

Evaluate the effectiveness of these trending plans, continuously increasing in popularity, for your own needs

Subjects

Overview, history, and current trends of the HSA market

Characteristics of an HSA, including triple tax advantages and mobility

Responsibilities of HSA account owners: eligibility, management, substantiation, and tax reporting

Who is and isn’t eligible for an HSA

HSA-qualified insurance: minimum deductibles required, and maximum limits on out-of-pocket expenses

Which expenses count toward satisfying deductibles and out-of-pocket limits

How “preventive care” is defined

Planning for HSA deposits

HSA withdrawals: strict compliance rules regarding rules for tax-free withdrawals, the IRS definition of qualified medical expenses, permitted family member withdrawals, and associated penalties

Investing HSA assets: permitted and prohibited investments

HSA account management: establishment, ownership, recordkeeping, timing, and account fees