HSA Owners Manual: What Every Accountholder, Employer and Benefits Consultant Needs to Know about Health Savings Accounts - and How to Us

This book is the owner's manual that did not come withyour HSA.Health Savings Accounts are becoming a more common partof average Americans' lives. Paired with HSA-qualified healthplans, they cover a growing number of Americans' health carecosts. And the trends indicate that they'll become an even moreimportant part of more people's health care in the future.This book is designed to help you understand HSAs andHSA-qualified health plans. When you enroll in these plans, youoften receive a mass of literature about the health plan, outliningwhat services are covered, your cost-sharing, exclusions, rules tofollow, and how to appeal a claim denial, among other topics.You probably received some information about the HSA itselffrom your trustee. It most likely came in the form of a glossytwelve-page brochure with pictures of smiling families and caringdoctors, plus some very basic information about how to set upyour account, how much you could contribute, and a partial listof expenses eligible for tax-free distribution.That level of information is simply inadequate for you tomanage your HSA. If you rely on that information alone, you'llprobably end up doing something inadvertently that runs afoulof HSA rules and regulations. Even if your HSA custodian isthe rare one that provides adequate and easy-to-understandinformation in its printed materials and online to keep you in compliance, you'll never learn how to maximize the benefit ofyour HSA. HSA trustees simply do not provide this information.So where do you turn for complete information on remainingcompliant with HSA rules and regulations and maximizingthe short-term and long-term tax advantages of your HSA?Right here, with this book. HSA Owner's Manual is the mostcomprehensive guide to HSAs available anywhere. This book isthe owner's manual that did not come with your HSA. If you followthe advice in this book, you'll keep your HSA in compliancewith current HSA rules and regulations. You'll also learn aboutsources of updated information as the IRS releases new rules andinterpretations and as the Department of Health and HumanServices issues health care reform regulations that impact HSAs.Your HSA trustee may offer similar information, but probablynot in an easy-to-understand format and certainly not in asingle volume.In addition, this book delivers information that no HSAtrustee offers-strategies to help you maximize your financialopportunity as an HSA accountholder. You'll learn how tointegrate your HSA into your short-term tax savings and longtermasset building strategies. You'll receive information thatwill help you determine when you should use your HSA as areimbursement account and when you'll benefit from utilizing itas a long-term financial asset.May your journey through the pages of this book reduce yourconfusion about your HSA and help you embrace it to unlock itshidden value for your long-term financial health.