The Health Savings Account (HSA) can be an important piece of your long-term savings plan. It is only available to UH employees who have not reached age 65 and who enroll in the Consumer Select Plan. An HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account that you can use to pay for health care expenses. It’s important to understand that you own this savings account – just like any other bank account. Consider an HSA your health care “piggy bank” that has powerful tax advantages.

• You are over age 65; in this case, you can continue to use funds you have already contributed to an HSA
• You are covered by another plan (such as a spouse’s employer plan) that does not meet IRS requirements for a High Deductible Health Plan

• When you enroll in the Consumer Select Plan and the HSA , you will need to set up an interest-bearing HSA with ACS/Mellon (UH’s designated HSA provider). If you have already opened your HSA, you do not have to set up a new one.
• UH deposits money into your HSA each pay (24 pays per year).
• You can elect to make pre-tax contributions to your HSA through automatic payroll deduction. You need to go to Employee Direct Access (EDA) January 1 or later to enter your contribution amount. For example, for 2010 contributions you can go online beginning January 1, 2010.
• You can log into EDA at any time to change your contribution to the HSA.
• Use your ACS/Mellon debit card or personal checks to access the money in your HSA to pay for eligible health care expenses – again, without tax.
• Any balance left in your account rolls over to the next year and you can keep building a balance to use during retirement. And remember, since the HSA is yours, you keep the entire account balance even if you change jobs or retire.

Use online tools to help you see how an HSA could work for you.

Each pay period, UH contributes to your HSA. You can also elect (through Employee Direct Access) to make your own pre-tax contributions to your HSA – up to the annual IRS limit – through payroll deductions. See below what you and UH can contribute for 2010.

HSA Contributions for 2010

You can start, stop, or change your HSA contribution amount at any time during the year through Employee Direct Access. Use the Health Savings Account Estimator to determine how much to save for health care expenses at retirement.

To set up a new HSA account, go to https://hsamember.com/hsaadvantage and log in using the last four digits of your Social Security number, your date of birth and your ZIP code. Read the statement and click “I agree” to continue. Complete the online application. Once your application is processed, you will receive a welcome kit.