this has always been a STUPID STUPID program!!!!!!!!!!!!
a HIDEOUS EXAMPLE OF BUREACRACY GONE AMOK
You put money aside, in tyhe governments hands, so that at the end of the year they can give it back to you IF YOU MEET their regulations and fll out minldess paperwork reporting what you purchased that ‘qualifies’ to the government
Why not just make the medical ‘qualified’ expenses deductable when you do your taxes? what... too easy? not enough bureacrats empoloed to oversee it?
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE HECK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
An “HSA” is NOT, an “MSA” -— with an HSA you do NOT have to give the money back, there is no “use it or lose it” in the HSA PLAN!
It is a BRILLIANT idea and you need to study the issue a bit, before you spout off here.
Also, even the MSA makes sense, for those responsible enough to figure out how to use it!
The HSA attracts those of us who are self employed. I am 51 years old, and I carry a High Deductable health insurance plan. I can then put lots of money into my HSA every year, and use that money for the deductables and co-insurance, if needed.
My Health Insurance premium is about $102.00 a month. I carry a $5,000.00 deductable. It is the SMARTEST thing anyone can do.
I am a CFP
I am a Health Insurance Agent.
I am self employed.
I have an HSA.
I have a disabled Grand Daughter.
Dems who do not like HSA plans are scum.
You, on the other hand, I am hoping you are only misinformed!
FSAs are great, especially from a cash-flow standpoint. My wife has severe cardiopulmonary & other disorders (4 open-heart surgeries by the time she was 23) and I put over five grand in this year.
In a time of low interest rates the value may escape your attention. In a time of high interest rates, and iron enforcement of withholding rules, you can see the difference.
Right now it's not a hill of beans difference.
Self-employed people have a different formula to work with, but it amounts to the same thing. $3,500 untaxed and used throughout the year is worth more than $3,500 as a deduction at the end of the tax year.