HSA

Industry & Regulatory News

Health Savings for Seniors Act Reintroduced in House

Representatives Ami Bera (D-CA) and Jason Smith (R-MO) have reintroduced the “Health Savings for Seniors Act” (H.R. 3796) to permit those enrolled in Medicare to contribute to a health savings account (HSA). Pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code (the Code), an individual is eligible to contribute to an HSA if, among other things, the individual is not a participant in Medicare. The Act would amend the Code to remove this restriction if the individual is enrolled in a Medicare plan that has an annual deductible of $1,000 for self-only coverage and $2,000 for family coverage and the annual deductible plus the annual out-of-pocket expenses does not exceed $5,000 for self-only coverage and $10,000 for family coverage. The Act would also amend the Code to prohibit use of HSA funds to pay for Medicare premiums and any Medicare enrollee would be allowed to spend HSA funds only on medical expenses. Currently, individuals with an HSA account are able to spend the HSA contributions for any purpose, including medical expenses, once the individual turns 65, regardless of Medicare enrollment.

April 13 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

House Passes Affordable Insulin Now Act

The House has passed the Affordable Insulin Now Act (the “Act”) to limit the cost of insulin to either $35 or 25 percent of the plan’s negotiated price, whichever is less. Group health plans or health insurance issuers of group or individual insurance would be required to implement the coverage of insulin products beginning January 1, 2023. In addition, the Act caps the cost-sharing limit under Medicare to $35 in 2023, even if the individual has reached the annual out-of-pocket limit and to $35 in 2024 for those who have not yet reached their annual out-of-pocket limit. The legislation must still pass the Senate before it is enacted.

April 05 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

Health Care Equality and Modernization Act Introduced in House

Representative Peter Sessions introduced the Health Care Equality and Modernization Act of 2022 (the “Act”) in the House of Representatives. The Act contains various provisions that would amend the Affordable Care Act (ACA), redefine individual health coverage HRAs (“ICHRAs”), limit premium tax credits, and improve health savings accounts (HSAs).

The Act would repeal the ACA employer mandate and related information reporting, limit consumer protections, and impose a 20 percent penalty assessed as a premium increase for any individual that does not have continuous health insurance coverage for a period of 12 months. The Act would redefine ICHRAs to no longer treat them as group health plans pursuant to the ACA, ERISA, or the IRC. In addition, the Act would not require ICHRAs to comply with various federal laws, including ERISA, the IRC, the ACA, COBRA, and HIPAA. The Act would also limit premium tax credits to those individuals in states that have expanded the Exchange to all areas. Premium tax credits may also be used, at the discretion of the individual, to fund an HSA. Related to HSAs, the Act would increase the individual contribution limit to $5,000 and the family limit based on the number of individuals enrolled in family coverage. Upon the death of the account holder, the Act would also permit for easier transfer by treating the surviving spouse as the named account holder.

April 01 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

House Passes Spending Bill That Would Include Telehealth Extension

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a substantial $1.5 Trillion omnibus spending package to fund the government. Included in the bill is a provision that would temporarily allow expenses for telehealth and other remote care services to continue be paid from a health savings account (HSA) without first meeting the deductible under the high deductible health plan (HDHP). The provision would allow the deductible to be disregarded for the period April 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.

Previously, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act amended the same provision to temporarily cover telehealth and remote care services without meeting the deductible for the period after January 1, 2020, for plan years beginning on or before December 31, 2021.

While the provision, if enacted, would allow additional temporary flexibility for HSA owners to cover telehealth expenses from their accounts before meeting deductibles, it is important to note that due to the timing of the expiration of the CARES relief and the extension proposed in the legislation, telehealth services for the period January 1, 2022, through March 31, 2022, would be subject to the HDHP deductible requirements before they would be considered a qualified medical expense for HSA purposes.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where a vote is expected by a Friday funding deadline. However, House lawmakers also passed a stopgap measure by voice vote that lasts until Tuesday to ensure that the Senate has enough time to clear the omnibus package without risking a government shutdown.

March 10 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

Legislation Proposed to Expand Qualified Medical Expenses to Include Infant Diapers

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) has introduced the Diaper Inclusion in Accounts for Parental Expense Reduction (DIAPER) Act. The bipartisan bill would allow the use of flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) to be used to purchase disposable infant diapers as qualified medical expenses. Any progress of the bill through Congress will be monitored, and details provided as they become available.

February 28 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

Legislation Proposed to Permit HSAs for Children

The Child Health Savings Account Act of 2022 (H.R. 6507), introduced by Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) in the House of Representatives, would expand HSA contribution eligibility requirements by allowing parents to contribute and deduct up to $3,000 each year to their childrens’ HSAs.

The HSA will be treated as the parent’s HSA until the child reaches age 18. At that time, it would become the child’s HSA. As the bill is currently drafted, any distributions taken out of the HSA before the child’s 18th birthday would be included in the parent’s taxable income. Nonqualified distributions would also be subject to an additional 20 percent penalty tax. Once the child turns 18, distributions would be considered qualified only if they were taken while the child was not a dependent on the parent’s insurance (the child could be treated as the parent’s dependent for certain permitted insurance, but not for the parent’s health plan).

If the child were to become disabled or die, the parent would no longer be able to make contributions, but could roll over any HSA assets to their own IRA or HSA, or to another child’s HSA.

If enacted, this legislation would become effective for tax years beginning after the date of enactment. Any progress of the bill through Congress will be monitored, and details provided as they become available.

February 03 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

IRS Issues Deadline Relief for Tennessee Storm Victims

The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes in Tennessee. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began December 10, 2021. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Obion, Stewart, Sumner, Weakley, and Wilson counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

January 21 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

April 18 is IRS Tax Filing Deadline for Most Filers

The IRS has announced that tax filing season will begin on January 24, 2022. The filing deadline for 2021 tax returns or requests for extension is April 18, 2022, for most taxpayers because of Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. For taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts, the deadline to file is April 19, 2022, because of Patriots’ Day. Taxpayers who request an extension will have until October 17, 2022, to file their 2021 returns.

January 11 2022

Industry & Regulatory News

IRS Proposes Electronic Filing Requirements for Certain Information Returns

The IRS has released a pre-publication version of proposed regulations amending rules intended to increase the filing of electronic returns in accordance with the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. Additionally, the IRS has withdrawn previously proposed regulations regarding electronic filing that were published on May 31, 2018.

July 23 2021

Industry & Regulatory News

Several Health Savings Bills Proposed

Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) recently introduced two bills aimed at providing more flexibility for the use of health savings accounts (HSAs). Senate bill 2113 proposes to expand permissible distributions from an employee’s health flexible spending arrangement or health reimbursement arrangement to the employee’s HSA. Senate bill 2099 proposes to make HSAs more broadly available by removing the requirement that individuals be enrolled in a high deductible health plan. Further details of these proposals have not yet been made available.

June 23 2021