Are Health Savings Accounts Going To Be Different In 2012?

Health Savings Accounts and the high-deductible health plans that work with them have been in demand since they were first offered in 2004. There's been a lot of speculation about whether they would remain popular after health care reform. Despite a few changes, HSA plans still remain the popular choice.

The penalty for spending Health Savings Account (HSA) funds on something other than qualified health care before you turn 65 was doubled. In addition, over-the-counter medicines were removed from the list of qualified expenses unless a doctor prescribes them. Besides the regular annual change in contribution limits, everything else remains the same.

What Are The 2012 HSA Plan Minimums and Maximums

In 2011, HSA-qualified individual plans had to have a deductible of at least 1,200 and family plans had to have a deductible of at least $2,400. The most you could spend on health care that wasn't covered (known as maximum out-of-pocket) was $5,950 on individual plans and $11,900 on family plans.

Next year, the minimum deductible stays the same, but the maximum out-of-pocket will be $6,050 on individual plans and $12,100 on family plans.

The maximum amount you can deposit into your HSA and deduct from your annual income tax hasn't changed for a couple of years, but it will in 2012. The IRS has announced that the 2012 Health Savings Account annual contribution limit will be $50 higher at $3,100. The family coverage will be $6,250, which is an increase of $100.

Catch-up contributions for those who are 55 or older won't change, though. Those people can still deposit and additional $1,000.

What Changes Do HSA Plans Share With All High-deductible Policies?

While that may be all of the changes that apply solely to HSA-qualified plans, these policies are affected by health care reform just like all other health plans. And, the biggest change in high-deductible plans is that they have begun to cover preventive health care "right off the bat."

The government has specified which services appear to help people stay healthy and which are best at detecting potentially serious problems in the early stages. They've looked at the types of health care that help from when moms become pregnant right through old age. All of these age-specific services are covered by plans issued after health care reform became law, but not under pre-health care reform policies.

These services are covered through in-network providers with no out-of-pocket costs, like co-insurance, co-pays or needing to meet the plan's deductible. That alone makes it worthwhile to shop for new coverage when you're stuck with an outdated policy.

How Do You Get Started Shopping For An HSA?

First, get familiar with how high-deductible health plans work. Preventive health care is covered before you meet a plan's deductible, but other services won't be until you meet the rules applicable to specific plans.

The deductible is the specific dollar amount that you have to spend for "qualified" health care each year before your plan begins to cover medical expenses. Be sure you understand which services are qualified to be applied toward meeting the deductible.

Family plans can have something known as an embedded deductible. That means there are both an individual deductible and another one for the whole family. This allows each family member to have their medical bills paid before the entire family deductible has been met.

There's also something called a decreasing deductible. That one has advantages, too. A decreasing deductible goes down each year that you don't reach the deductible. It's like a reward for staying healthy. If you do meet the deductible in one year, though, it will probably revert back to the original deductible.

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