- quote -

Yes. There’s a comparison at:

http://hsafinder.com/

There are plenty to choose from.

Will Trice wrote:
- quote -

Will, you're right - I had some of the rules mixed up. I still have an
MSA and those have a few more restrictions than HSAs. In a year you
contribute to your MSA you can only pay for expenses of someone covered
by an HDHP, otherwise it's a taxable distribution. But you're right that
after that (in years you don't contribute), you can pay qualified
medical expenses from an MSA or HSA even if there's no HDHP in place.
And it's likely that a lifetime of medical expenses, or one of the other
allowable uses, will deplete the account even if there's a lot
accumulated in the account when you leave the HDHP. The one alternative
that I think is especially interesting is long-term care insurance - if
you end up with excess in the account you can pay premiums for a
qualifying LTC policy.

-Tad

- quote -

I checked this link out. Does this "company" have competitors? The
brokerage fees ($3/month) seemed high (pay $10/year for Roth IRA).

TB wrote:
- quote -

Er, you can only open the account with an HSA-compatible plan, but you
can continue to pay medical expenses from the HSA even after you're not
covered by the plan (though you cannot continue to contribute), right?.
See
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/publi...ng.shtml#hsa16


- quote -

The distributions will be taxable unless I use them for medical expenses
in retirement, which I expect that I will have. According to the site
above, I can even use the HSA to pay for Medicare (but not Medigap). Of
course, the tax laws could change on me, too.

-Will

Mark Freeland wrote:
- quote -

Good points Mark. You're right about CA, which is where I live - that's
the reason I still have an MSA. CA coordinated with the US tax code with
MSAs but as you pointed out, still hasn't done so for HSAs. So I draw
money from the HSA and leave the MSA alone, and continue to contribute
to both.

-Tad

TB wrote:
- quote -

Tad, the following are minor quibbles with "never taxed".

In contrast to Medical Reimbursement Plan (MRP) dollars that are truly
exempt from all federal taxes including Medicare and OASDI, HSA
contributions are exempt only from federal income taxes (since they are,
as you pointed out, handled as deductions against income for income tax
purposes).

Further, as with all federal tax preferences, one has to check to see
whether state laws conform with federal law. For example, in the state
of California, HSA contributions are still taxable, though there is a
pending bill, SB 1584, that would exempt HSA contributions,
retroactively. There are other pending bills that would exempt HSA
contributions, but only from 2006 on, or 2007 on.

http://www.health--savings--accounts...income-tax.htm
(state-by-state status of HSAs)
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/law/legis/05_0...584_032706.pdf
(SB 1584 summary and status)

--
Mark Freeland
nNeEwTs[at]sonic.net

Will Trice wrote:
- quote -

Any plan that meets the HSA requirements will be labelled specifically
that way, and that's important to verify. It sounds like you know this,
but you can only open an HSA and pay for medical expenses from the
account while you're covered by an HSA-compatible plan.

- quote -

You're right that you are not required to take money from the HSA, you
could just pay the bills using other funds. But keep in mind that a big
benefit of the HSA is that those are potentially "never taxed" dollars,
a truly unique thing in the tax code. You get an above-the-line tax
deduction for money you add to the HSA, and when you pay a bill, there's
not tax on the distribution. If you instead let the money ride until
retirement age, the distributions will be taxable, at ordinary-income
rates. Unless you were really looking hard for ways to increase your
tax-deferred assets, I think most people opt for the "bird in hand" tax
benefit (i.e. paying from the HSA).

-Tad

Tad Borek wrote:

- quote -

Thanks for the tip, I'll add them to the list to check out.

- quote -

Well, the cost I'll have whether I have the HSA or not. My company only
offers one health insurance option and it is high deductible (alas, it
may not qualify as high deductible for the purposes of an HSA as it has
a prescription benefit that is not part of the deductible - still trying
to find out the details). My wife and I have only gotten close to the
deductible limit once (last hospital visit cost us $357 out of pocket),
and only for one of us, so I expect to see pretty good accumulation
assuming we continue along our healthy paths.

And it's not required for me to take money out for medical expenses is
it? I might just let the money ride just like a retirement account,
although I haven't really thought that through. If I don't, then I can
really see your point about the money market account being more important.

Lots of food for thought, thanks,
-Will

Will Trice wrote:
- quote -

Will, I've got my MSA & HSA at hsabank.com (used to be called MSA Bank).
I don't know how they compare these days on stocks/funds but I've been
happy w/them for the past 5 years or so.

Keep in mind that w/an HSA you face a significant out of pocket cost
each year, from both the deductible and whatever copayments it takes to
reach your annual maximum. It takes a couple years to build the account
up, because of the contribution limits. And the minute you walk into a
hospital you're going to be out at least $500, easily 4X that.

So a good bit of your HSA might be needed within the next year or two,
should something happen. You might be a couple-few years away from
purchasing stocks/funds, and criteria like service fees and interest
rates on the money-market fund may be more important, initially, when
selecting a custodian. I still consider these accounts "three-year
money" even though I rarely dip into them. Prescription glasses,
emergency room visit in Jackson (splinter in eye) - that blew out a
year's contribution.

-Tad

MyVeryOwnSelf wrote:

- quote -

Thanks! I'll check them out.

-Will

- quote -

I've been happy with HSA Trustee Services
(http://www.hsatrusteeservices.com/), though I haven't used their brokerage
service. I just have a basic savings account there.

Howdy y'all,

I've got high deductible health insurance and I think I'm going to open
a Heathcare Savings Account, albeit more for retirement purposes than
for paying for healthcare. As such, does anyone have any suggestions
for an HSA administrator? I'm looking for a low cost provider that will
allow me to trade in individual stocks and no-load mutual funds at a
reasonable price.

Thanks in advance,
-Will