are health savings accounts a good deal?

Answer 1

yes!!!! best thing since butter toast!!!

Answer 2

An HSA (not an FSA like some of the others are talking about) is a good deal. He's right about the tax advantage. Not only can you put money into the account pre-tax, the interest in the account is tax-free as well.

HSA's roll over into the next year, FSA's do not! FSA is a "use it or lose it" deal that you must spend, or it's gone the following year. It's YOUR money, you want it, keep it!

You can use the funds in your HSA account for any qualified medical expense (as per the irs.gov publication 502). This is a HUGE range of things you can use it for! Bandaid, OTC drugs, prescriptions, eyeglasses, ortho shoes, etc. The list is endless. You can use the card either as a credit or debit at an point of sale. You can even go to the ATM and withdrawl funds from your HSA account to reimburse yourself if you forget to use your HSA card. You can usually get up to 3000/day per ATM or 5000/day as an Over the Counter cash withdrawl at any bank.

The best things about this account are it's rollover capabilites, the tax advantage, and it's FDIC insured.

Answer 3

It is a good deal because you choose a high deductible plan to go with it.
It is like saving money from your pocket for your medical expenses,rather than give the insurance company money every month hoping that money will be put to use sometime in the future.

One more important thing about HSA is that it will be with you even if you change jobs or the company merges or get acquired by another.
This is a good option if you are on the healthier side and do not fall sick often.

Answer 4

depends on your income and tax bracket, this is a yearly thing use it or lose it situation so whatever you put in must be used during the year period which is not necessarily a calendar year. it is tax free and dedcuted before taxes so it reduces your taxable income. it is called an fsa account. however you can not have an fsa and dedcut medical expense for the same amount when you go to file with the irs each year as this money was tax free. you must decide what is best for u and urs tax wise. if you get a large refund each year and use the medical deduction it might not be worth it, if you dont itemize it would safe you a couple of dollars, check with your employer and they should be able to tell you the federal with holding you currently pay each pay check and what it would be based on what you put into the fsa each pay period and then you could decide the benefit it might have for u.

Answer 5

Money is deducted pre-tax, so you have a slight tax advantage. To determine the effective return, use the formula =x/(1-t) where x is the amount and t is the tax rate. If you're putting $1000 into the account and your effective tax rate is 15%. Its 1000/(1-.15) or $1176.47. You HSA is a $1000 investment which is actually worth $1176.47 to you. This is becasue is becomes tax free dollars.

Answer 6

I love mine and it really helps out a lot. I can use it for perscription co-pays, doctor co-pays, vision and dental or over the counter drugs. There is a lot that insurance just doesn't cover and the co-pays are increasing every year. Besides, it gives me more options because I can go out of network and recoup the costs if I need to. The only problem I have is that the type we have doesn't allow you to carry over the savings from year to year. That means you have to correctly guesstimate what you will actually use during the year or you lose it. That I wish they would change because there are years that you are sincerely buying designer perscription sunglasses in the middle of winter just to use up the leftover dollars.