A reader asked me this question. "I am considering a high deductible health plan that qualifies me to fund an HSA. What happens to my HSA if I get employer based coverage and am no longer HSA eligible?"
Money in your HSA is your property the moment it is deposited. If you no longer have an HSA eligible policy you can no longer make deposits to your HSA account, The funds remaining in your HSA are still available for qualified medical expenses regardless of your coverage type.
An interesting HSA fact. You can roll over one years worth of HSA deposits from an IRA ($3100.00 for 2012). I would not recommend doing this unless you are in a medical/financial bind. You can only rollover funds once in your life and you can't roll funds back to the IRA.
When comparison shopping for HSA providers try to compare expense ratios. Lower fees will help you get a better return on the investments in your HSA. This may be harder than checking stock or bond expense ratios. Insurance companies are not legally required to be forthcoming with their fee schedule (yet!). But ask the rep. when you call anyway.
Make sure to keep detailed records of your medical expenses. That will save you a bunch of time and heartache at tax time.
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