HSA News for November 9, 2026
HSA news is compiled weekly by Mr. HSA, Roy Ramthun.
News from Washington
IRS Announces Health and Welfare Benefit Plan Limits for 2027
The IRS has released cost-of-living adjusted limits for health and welfare benefit plans for 2027. The newly released figures include the 2027 limits applicable to health FSAs, qualified transportation fringe benefits and adoption assistance. The IRS previously released the 2027 limits applicable to HSAs, HDHPs, and excepted benefit HRAs.
Compliance Corner
Navigating HSA and FSA Compliance: Key FAQs and Common Misconceptions
Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts are often misunderstood, despite their significant financial advantages. It’s time to clarify the ins and outs of these tax-saving healthcare accounts and answer some HSA and FSA FAQs. At first glance, HSAs and FSAs might appear similar, but they are fundamentally different.
Choosing Next Year's Reimbursement Account? Here Are the Questions to Ask.
It is open enrollment time for many workers. About half of benefits-eligible employees renew their elections effective January 1. Most have the option of a reimbursement account - either an HSA or a Health FSA - to help them manage their out-of-pocket financial responsibility for medical care. Which one is best when a company offers both?
HSA-Eligible Health Plans in 2027: What to Know About Tax Savings vs. Higher Deductibles
Healthcare affordability was part of the midterm election cost-of-living debate. It is uncertain how a new Congress might try to address that pain point. Now, as workers choose their 2027 health insurance coverage, millions face a more immediate decision: whether to pick a plan that lets them contribute to an HSA.
HSA Studies & Analysis
Explaining Health Savings Accounts in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces
This brief examines HSAs in the context of recent changes that expanded access to these HSA-eligible plans and accounts, with a focus on their potential implications for ACA Marketplace enrollees. The availability of plans compatible with an HSA has increased substantially since the implementation of relevant provisions from the OBBBA.
Market Trends
Direct Primary Care Is Quietly Changing How We Experience Healthcare
The care Americans receive (if they use their health insurance at all) is becoming more expensive, less personal, more friction-filled, and is burning out primary care doctors in a system designed for the system's benefit, not the insured. Direct Primary Care is a rapidly growing model that acts like a monthly subscription for your health and well-being.
56% of Workers Say Health Care Costs Are Cutting Into What They Can Save for Retirement
56% of workers say rising health care costs hurt their retirement savings, and 38% of retirees report higher-than-expected medical expenses. The pressure doesn’t stop once people leave work, as 38% of retirees say their health care expenses have been higher than they expected. Inflation adds to it, with 70% of workers saying they worry they’ll have to make cuts because of rising prices.
HSAs & Retirement
38% of Retirees Say Health Care Has Cost More Than They Expected. Here’s What a 65-Year-Old Should Budget Instead
According to one survey, almost 40% of retirees say their health care costs have been higher than they expected. If you’re turning 65, this is what to plan for in 2026: the premiums Medicare charges, the costs it doesn’t cover, and a sample yearly health budget under two common plans.
At 70 She Pays $4,800 a Year for Long-Term Care Insurance. Her HSA Can Pay It Tax-Free, Up to a Limit Set by Her Age
Every year, a 70-year-old retiree pays $4,800 for long-term care insurance directly from her checking account. Here’s how her HSA can pay that premium tax-free, how much the IRS lets her contribute at her age, and how she can reimburse herself for premiums she has already paid out of pocket.
Maximizing Your HSA
Her Employer Picked Her HSA Provider. She Can Move the Money to Another One Without Tax and Keep the Payroll Contributions Coming
An HSA transfer lets account holders move their money to a different provider, tax-free, while paycheck contributions keep going into the original account. That option matters when an employer-selected provider charges a monthly account fee or offers an investment menu with only a short list of funds. If your employer picked your HSA provider, you can make this move.
Your Cheap Obamacare Plan Now Comes With a Tax Break. Here’s How to Use It.
For years, buying the cheapest plan on HealthCare.gov meant you got the big deductible and none of the tax perks. But since January 1, 2026, every bronze and catastrophic plan sold to individuals is now compatible with an HSA. Pick one of those plans, and you can stash money in an HSA, deduct it, and spend it on medical bills with no tax going in or coming out.
The Hot New Place to Bet on Stocks Is a Health Savings Account
HSAs offer Americans a tax-free way to save for medical expenses. Now, some are using them to trade stocks, exchange-traded funds, cryptocurrencies and even assets as unique as livestock. Those perks are making the HSA an unusually tempting place to take bigger or more creative swings, especially for savers with other well-funded portfolios. Still, many workers spend their HSA cash, and the majority aren’t investing.
IRS Applies 3 Tax Breaks to Just 1 Account
Traditional 401(k) plans offer an upfront tax deduction but require retirees to pay taxes on withdrawals, while Roth IRAs allow tax-free qualified withdrawals. But a Health Savings Accounts offers a tax advantage that extends through every stage of saving. HSAs let eligible Americans contribute pretax money, grow investments tax-free, and withdraw funds tax-free for qualified medical expenses.
Consumer-Driven Healthcare
What to Know About the Affordable Care Act’s Open Enrollment Period Now Underway
People heading into the ACA open enrollment period with plans to sign up for insurance should expect a variety of changes in 2027, including higher premiums and fewer coverage options. The sign-up window for the marketplace starts Sunday in most states and runs through January 15.
We Asked One Couple to Show Us How They Mastered Open Enrollment
Last year, Todd Dolci ran the numbers and decided to move the family from his employer’s traditional PPO to its high-deductible plan that lets them put pretax money in an HSA. The switch cut the family’s premiums by about $9,000 this year, and his employer adds $3,000 a year to the account. The balance can be withdrawn tax-free for medical expenses.