Dear Liz: I have a family health savings account with a qualifying high-deductible health insurance plan. The HSA will become my individual account when my youngest turns 26 and no longer qualifies for our insurance plan. My husband can’t contribute to an HSA because he’s on Medicare. I have read that if I die before him, he can use my HSA for his own medical expenses. Can I use my HSA to pay his medical expenses now, even though I can’t contribute to it on his behalf?
Answer: Yes. A spouse can use HSA funds for the qualifying medical expenses of a spouse as well as other dependents, according to Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.
If you want to pass the funds to your husband should you die first, you should make him the designated beneficiary of the account. Otherwise, the account could become taxable at your death, as mentioned in last week’s column.
Dear Liz – Both my husband and I have high deductible health insurance plans at our respective jobs, and individual HSAs. Our son is on my husband’s health plan. We are currently paying out of pocket for our health costs, but in, say, 20 years from now, can we reimburse ourselves for our son’s old health care expenses (provided we kept receipts) out of my HSA or do the reimbursements need to come out of my husband’s HSA? Thank you!