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HDHP and FSA, its possible?


Guest SueWronski

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Guest SueWronski

A year ago I found proof to submit to my employer that I indeed can have a Flexible Spending account with an HDHP, I simply researched it on the internet, and I therefore was allowed to do so for the 2011 year. I can't find any information on it now. Everyone gives me the same thing "you can not have a Flex plan with an HDHP and you can not have a FLex plan with an HSA (well, you can within limits, but I'm not talking about that here)". Well, I've proven that you can, I already did, but now people say I shouldn't have been able to.

I DO NOT have an HSA and I don't want one. The reason is I need the entire amount of the Flex account available to me in January, and I pay for it every paycheck for the rest of the year. Where can I find information as to the reasoning why I CAN have an HDHP with a Flex account. If I indeed can't do that, where is that proof?

Secondly, is an employer legally allowed to contribute money into a flex plan, like they are allowed to contribute to an HSA? Again, I don't have and don't want an HSA, I need a flex plan.

I'm so confused.

Thanks.

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A year ago I found proof to submit to my employer that I indeed can have a Flexible Spending account with an HDHP, I simply researched it on the internet, and I therefore was allowed to do so for the 2011 year. I can't find any information on it now. Everyone gives me the same thing "you can not have a Flex plan with an HDHP and you can not have a FLex plan with an HSA (well, you can within limits, but I'm not talking about that here)". Well, I've proven that you can, I already did, but now people say I shouldn't have been able to.

I DO NOT have an HSA and I don't want one. The reason is I need the entire amount of the Flex account available to me in January, and I pay for it every paycheck for the rest of the year. Where can I find information as to the reasoning why I CAN have an HDHP with a Flex account. If I indeed can't do that, where is that proof?

Secondly, is an employer legally allowed to contribute money into a flex plan, like they are allowed to contribute to an HSA? Again, I don't have and don't want an HSA, I need a flex plan.

I'm so confused.

Thanks.

There was a discussion on this site on this topic within the past 2 weeks. Try checking the HSA forum or searching for "HSA"

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It's definitional... how can you be prevented from having an HSA by participating in an FSA if you can't have an FSA with an HDHP to begin with? See IRS Publication 969 page 4 "Other employee health plans. An employee covered by an HDHP and a health FSA or an HRA that pays or reimburses qualified medical expenses generally cannot make contributions to an HSA." http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p969.pdf

However, there are complex rules to prevent the abuse and misuse of Section 125 Plans, so it's not always as simple as you saying "I want this instead of that" or "put money here instead of here". Your employer has to comply with laws that neither you nor they control.

I would give them a copy of that page from the IRS publication along with a simple note saying "I am covered by other medical coverage which prohibits me from contributing to an HSA, I therefore request to continue participating in our company's FSA. I realize that participating in the FSA prevents me from contributing to an HSA." Change your words from "don't want" to "can't have"... you can't have an HSA so you want to be in the FSA. If they still say no, then politely request a written explanation and come back here and we'll try to help you make sense (or nonsense) of their answer.

Kurt Vonnegut: 'To be is to do'-Socrates 'To do is to be'-Jean-Paul Sartre 'Do be do be do'-Frank Sinatra

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We sell these all the time.

The employer has to offer the FSA.

Lots of people get confused and think that HDHP means HSA. However, it's just a health insurance plan. If you have a true HDHP, employers CAN offer FSA, HRA and HSA. If they do offer the HSA along with one of the other consumer directed plans, then you have to follow specific rules about what expenses can be reimbursed in the FSA or HRA.

However, if the HSA trust account is not offered, then you can have a "general purpose" FSA or HRA.

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  • 8 months later...
Guest odessa477

As an employer, he or she is do not own the HSA of their employees. They can contribute as much or as little as they want.

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