Top 10 Reasons Your HSA Does Not Match Your Deductible #9

9. Your HSA account has maintenance fees assessed

It is important to remember that although your HSA is unique in how your are allowed to spend the money it is still a bank account. Just like other bank accounts that you might have, your HSA bank may assess monthly or quarterly fees or deduct funds when you ask for paper statements or a replacement card. Should you only start with just enough funds in your account to meet you deductible but you account charges a quarterly maintenance fee, you may end up a few dollars short in your account to pay for your deductible our of your HSA.

For instance, if you have a $3000 calendar year deductible and put exactly $3000 in your HSA at the beginning of the year, you have just enough funds to cover your deductible. Let's say that you have a claim in February for $2000. This applies to your deductible, and you pay for it in full out of your HSA. You still have $1000 in your HSA and have $1000 left to meet for your deductible. Then in March, your HSA bank deducts $5 for your quarterly maintenance fee. You now have $995 in your HSA, but you still owe $1000 to meet your deductible because that $5 charge was not a medical claim. So when you have a $2000 claim in April, $1000 will apply to your deductible and the insurance provider will cover the additional $1000. You can pay for up to $995 of the $1000 applied to your deductible out of your HSA, but you will still have to pay $5 out of your pocket to meet the deductible. It is important to remember that you will also still be responsible for the $5 quarterly fee in June, September, and December. If you do not have enough funds in your account to cover these charges, you may also be responsible for overdraft fees, because at the end of the day, an HSA is still a bank account.

Want to know to rest of the top 10 reasons your HSA does not match your deductible? Check out the McGohan Brabender checklist and look for upcoming and previous articles explaining the other reasons!