Does my Individual Health Insurance policy qualify for a Health Savings Account as well?
You probably have heard about a Health Savings Account (HSA) yet might not know what they are and how they work. I will break it down into easy-to-understand parts and let you go from there. We are not accountants, so check any information below with your CPA or financial advisor. This is a general overview, and this post only applies to Individual Health Plans, not employer plans.
First of all a HSA is simply a checking account that you can use to pay for ONLY medical expenses, but not monthly premium payments. It’s your money, does not expire and can use it in future years until it runs out.
The more complex side is “Do I qualify to fund an HSA”? In the past you would have to buy a health insurance policy that was only “HSA Eligible”, however this was recently expanded in the summer of 2026. For Individual Health Insurance, any Bronze plan bought through a Federal or State Exchange is now “HSA Eligible”. So yes, if you buy any bronze plan through the WA Exchange (www.WaHealthPlanFinder.org) your plan is eligible in 2026.
The amount you qualify to put in this special checking account depends on a few factors. These are the maximum funding amounts for 2026. If you are single or one person on the Bronze plan purchased through the WA Exchange you can put in up to $4,400 per year. For a family with two or more people on a Bronze plan purchased through the WA Exchange you can put up to $8,750 per year into the HSA checking account. But wait there’s more. If someone on a Bronze HSA eligible plan is from the age of 55 to 64 you can put an additional $1,000 per household for a total of $5,400 if single or $9,750 if two or more in a family are on that plan.
The tax advantages of a Health Savings Account is incredible. Lets say you purchased a Bronze plan through the WA Exchange, make $100,000 and contribute $4,000 in the year of 2026 into that HSA checking account. Then your “taxable income” would be $96,000. It is a tax deduction. Then the money grows tax free and pays out tax free for ONLY qualified medical expenses. Do your own research on what that means.
Overall a HSA account is even better than a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA since the money goes in tax free and is spent tax free for qualified medical expenses. The money just sits there until you spend it. Just a heads up that there are very few banks that do it, yet most brokerages like Charles Schwab or your financial advisor can assist. The one I personally use is Key Bank and have a debit card I use for medical expenses as they come up. I always leave at least $1 in there so the account does not automatically close. Then fund it the next year or as Im able to up to the maximum allowed. Of course I have a HSA eligible health insurance plan as well.
NOTE: If you have a Gold or Silver plan on the WA Exchange they are NOT HSA eligible.
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Gary Franke, Tamara Chandler, Brianna Crawford & Melissa Tibbs
Heffernan Insurance Brokers
Individual Health & Medicare Specialists
1100 Bellevue Way NE, Ste 8A-545
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-802-2783 (call or text office line)
[email protected]
www.wahealthplan.org