What you need to know
Just as the name suggests, a Health Savings Account (HSA) is a savings account that lets you save pretax dollars to use for health care expenses. It’s available to those who enroll in the Meritain Consumer Directed Health Plan (CDHP).
Once you enroll in the CDHP, you’ll receive a welcome kit from HealthEquity with your debit card and information about your HSA.
What makes the HSA so great?
Use your HSA money to pay for qualified medical expenses, including deductibles and copays — or keep it for future expenses, even those you incur in retirement. Look at all the ways you win with an HSA:
- Your contributions to the HSA are pretax. You can select a contribution amount when you enroll, and contributions are taken from your paycheck pretax.
- PayPal also contributes FREE money — $500 annually for employee only coverage and $1,000 annually if you cover dependents. (The company’s contribution is included in the first paycheck after you enroll in the plan.)
- The maximum total annual contribution (yours and PayPal's) to your HSA is $4,150 for employee only coverage and $8,300 if you cover dependents. You can contribute an additional $1,000 if you are age 55 or older.
- Distributions are not taxed when spent on qualified medical expenses.
- Any money in your HSA that you don't spend stays in your account to help you save for future medical and retiree health care expenses.
- Your HSA belongs to you — always. You take it with you if you leave the company or retire.
Find out more about how you benefit with an HSA.
What can I use my HSA money for?
The IRS determines what expenses can and cannot be reimbursed. Here are just a few examples of qualified medical expenses you can use your HSA money for:
- Dental treatment
- Diagnostic tests and devices
- Doctors’ visits
- Prescriptions
- Eyeglasses, contact lenses, and exams
- Hearing aids and batteries
- Smoking cessation
Personal protection equipment (PPE), such as face masks, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes, is also eligible for reimbursement through your Health Savings Account. Visit HealthEquity QME (Qualified Medical Expenses) for a list of medical expenses your HSA may cover.
What if I use HSA funds to pay for nonqualified medical expenses?
Any amount you spend from your HSA on a nonqualified expense will be considered part of your taxable income. You will also owe a 10% penalty on that amount (unless you reach age 65, become disabled or die, or roll over your HSA to another HSA), and nonqualified expenses will not apply toward your deductible. For a list of qualified medical expenses, visit the IRS website at irs.gov, and type Publication 502 in the search box.
Accessing your HSA funds
Contributions are made to your HSA each pay period, but you must accumulate enough in your account before you can use the funds to pay for your health care expenses. You can use those dollars to pay for any medical care you’ve received or other eligible health care expenses incurred since the date you established your HSA.
Once you’ve established your HSA with HealthEquity, you’ll receive a debit card that you can use to conveniently pay at the pharmacy, doctor’s office, or elsewhere. You can pay your bills for qualified medical expenses online from your HealthEquity account or pay out of pocket and reimburse yourself online.
Learn more about filing claims at HealthEquity, including tips on how to file claims with ease.
Save your receipts!
Although you don’t need to submit receipts when you’re reimbursing yourself with your HSA dollars, you should save your receipts for tax purposes.
Since you own the HSA, you are responsible for providing documentation to the IRS, if you ever need to, for the expenses charged to your HSA. The money that goes into and out of your HSA — contributions and disbursements — is reported to the IRS each year. It’s important that you review this account with your tax advisor, since it’s like having another banking or savings account.
If you enroll in the CDHP with HSA, the Health Care FSA becomes a Limited Purpose FSA that you can use to reimburse yourself for eligible dental and vision expenses.
What is a Limited Purpose Health Care FSA?
A Limited Purpose FSA allows for reimbursement of eligible dental and vision expenses if participants are enrolled in the CDHP with HSA plan. If you reach your medical deductible for the plan year, all eligible medical expenses are covered, not only dental and vision. Visit FSA Eligible Expenses | HealthEquity® to view a list of qualified medical expenses.
Changing your HSA contributions
Contributions toward your HSA can be made pretax through payroll or after-tax directly to your HSA through HealthEquity. You can change your contribution at any time throughout the year, and funds are available when they are deposited into your HSA.
Updating your HSA payroll contributions
The amount you contribute per paycheck on a pretax basis toward your HSA can be changed at any time throughout the year.
- Access Your Benefits ResourcesTM (YBR) (@Work) | (Log In).
- Under the Quick Actions menu (listed on the left), select Change your Coverage.
- Select the My HSA Contribution tile.
- On your Benefits Summary page, click on View / Change in the Health Savings Account section.
- Review and answer the HSA Eligibility Questions and click Continue.
- Click Continue after reading the short pop-up reminder notice about the HSA program.
- Enter the amount of your new contribution. The estimated amount of your per-pay-period deduction will be based on the total contribution amount you entered.
- Review your HSA contributions and click Confirm.
Contributions can be made outside of payroll directly with HealthEquity. To make your contributions, log in to your HealthEquity account. From your homepage, choose the HSA tab and then click the Contribute tab.
New HSA elections (due to your new hire status or changes made to your current election) go into effect in your first pay date of the following month upon your submission in YBR. View the US payroll calendar to estimate the effective date of your HSA election.
Contributions made outside of payroll will not be reflected in your HSA year-to-date (YTD) total on your paystub. Contributions made outside of payroll still apply to the contribution limit.
Contribution limits
The 2024 maximum HSA contribution limit (your contribution and PayPal’s) is $4,150 for employee only coverage and $8,300 if you cover dependents. You can contribute an additional $1,000 if you are age 55 or older.
PayPal contributes $500 for employee only coverage and $1,000 annually if you cover dependents. PayPal’s contribution is funded at the beginning of the year for existing participants or the month following new hire enrollment.
If your spouse has an HSA and either of you is covered under the other’s plan, your combined HSA contributions are limited to the annual IRS contribution maximum for family coverage ($8,300 in 2024).
If you exceed the annual limit
If you contribute too much to your HSA, you will pay regular income tax plus a 10% tax penalty on the excess amount you contributed, per IRS rules. (Note: Different rules apply if you contributed too much because you left the plan during the year.)
More information
Read the FAQ, or view a list of eligible expenses that can be found in IRS Publication 502.
To access your PayPal HSA account with HealthEquity, visit healthequity.com or call 866-346-5800.
HSA vs. Health Care FSA
If you’re enrolled in or plan to enroll in the CDHP with HSA plan and want to enroll in the Health Care FSA, reimbursement under the FSA is limited to dental and vision expenses only. (The HSA already gives you a tax benefit on medical expenses.)
See how the HSA and FSA work together, and compare the benefits and advantages of the HSA, FSA, and HRA.
Confused about the HSA? Still have questions? Read the FAQ to learn more.