Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) introduced last week legislation targeting increased senior access to health savings accounts (HSAs).
The Stop Penalizing Working Seniors Act seeks to expand HSA access while addressing a technicality prohibiting individuals receiving social security benefits from contributing to their HSA accounts.
“Health Savings Accounts are becoming more and more popular as Americans are finding them helpful in meeting their health care needs,” Latta said. “Unfortunately, provisions included in Obamacare and other health care legislation often make it unnecessarily difficult to contribute to or use an HSA. This legislation will make HSAs easier to use by fixing the technicality that prohibits individuals that are receiving Social Security benefits from contributing to their HSAs. I’ll continue to work on healthcare policies that lower costs and increase options for patients.”
Current law states that, once an individual begins to collect Social Security benefits, they are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A. At the same time, they and their spouse are disqualified from making any contribution to their HSA account.
Latta’s constituents have conveyed with one spouse still working, the result is keeping their high-deductible health insurance plan while being prohibited from making contributions to their HSA.
HSAs allow individuals to make tax-free contributions and use the money for qualified medical expenses, stipulating that an individual must be combined with a High Deductible Health Plan to contribute.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute has determined there has been a steady growth of HSA enrollment, with more than 21 million Americans currently using HSAs.