How It Works

If you’re enrolled in the medical plan, opening a Health Savings Account (HSA) is a smart choice. Knowing how much to contribute and how to get the most out of it takes some education.

Features of your HSA

• Alaska Radiology teammates will receive the max IRS funding to their HSA in January of each year. Current limits are: Individual: $4,300 per year, Dependent coverage tiers: $8,550 per year
• It’s triple tax-advantaged: you don’t pay federal taxes on the money you set aside, your balance earns interest tax-free, and you won’t pay taxes on withdrawals (for qualified expenses).
• Your funds never expire and are yours to keep even if you leave the practice.
• You can adjust your payroll contribution at anytime during the year.
• You can invest your HSA and earn interest on your balance.

Who Is Eligible?

You’re eligible only if you are:

• Enrolled in the medical plan.
• Not enrolled in other non-HDHP medical coverage, including Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare.
• Not a tax dependent of someone else.
• Not enrolled in a Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA), unless it’s a “limited purpose” FSA for dental and vision expenses.

IRS Limits

• You can only spend your funds on eligible medical, dental, and vision expenses. See what qualifies as an eligible expense.
• The maximum allowed contribution to your HSA is $4,300 for single coverage and $8,550 for employee + family coverage. You can contribute an additional $1,000 per year at age 55+.
• At age 65, you can use your HSA for health care expenses tax-free or regular living expenses, subject to regular income tax, but you’ll incur no penalties.
• If you have an HSA, you cannot also have a general-purpose Flexible Spending Account (FSA). However, you can have an HSA and a Limited Purpose FSA covering just vision and dental. You may also use the Limited Purpose FSA for medical and prescription expenses once you have satisfied your annual medical deductible.

Domestic Partners and HSAs

Although domestic partners may be covered on the health plan, they are not treated as spouses for HSA purposes. You cannot reimburse your domestic partner’s expenses as tax-free from your HSA unless that individual qualifies as your tax dependent. The following rules also apply:

• In general, you generally cannot reimburse your domestic partner’s children’s expenses, whether or not they are covered on your health plan.
• If you have family coverage, you can contribute up to the IRS family maximum, even if your domestic partner is not HSA-eligible.
• If your domestic partner is otherwise HSA-eligible, they can open an HSA through their employer to reimburse their own (and dependents’) expenses tax-free.
• If you and your domestic partner are enrolled in family coverage, and you both contribute to HSAs, you can both contribute at the IRS family level.
• The rules for same-sex married couples are the same as for any other married couple.

Back to Top