Reimbursing yourself from HSA account

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
Post Reply
Topic Author
FB01
Posts: 689
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 12:36 am

Reimbursing yourself from HSA account

Post by FB01 »

Hi,

The rule is that whatever medical expense I have made, I can reimburse myself from my HSA account even if the expense was done 5 or 10 years back.

I have HSA account have say for e.g 30K. I am not taking any money now as allowing it to grow. Now if I need money, and I made an expense of $1000, 8 years back, do I need to have the actual copy of the receipt or statement of credit card should be fine. The Credit statement will be showing "Kaiser Permanente". Can anyone confirm?

If I am correct, receipts are required only when there is an audit but otherwise I can take out money from HSA based on my expense.

Can anyone help me understand how reimbursement from HSA works as I have not done yet.
Thanks, | FB
rkhusky
Posts: 17766
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:09 pm

Re: Reimbursing yourself from HSA account

Post by rkhusky »

What instructions does your HSA provider give?
pasadena
Posts: 2337
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:23 am
Location: PNW

Re: Reimbursing yourself from HSA account

Post by pasadena »

You don't need to justify any withdrawal to your HSA provider. However you must be able to show proof of need to the IRS, should they ask.

Out of the top of my head:
- Proof of eligibility (that you had an HSA and were eligible when the expense occurred)
- Proof of expense (bill)
- EOB from your insurance showing the amount they reimbursed
- Proof of payment for the part you were on the hook for (that's what you're withdrawing money for)
- Proof that you didn't get reimbursed for that part from another source

I would advise you enter some sort of description in your withdrawal so you know what you were taking it for.
User avatar
Nate79
Posts: 9373
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:24 pm
Location: Delaware

Re: Reimbursing yourself from HSA account

Post by Nate79 »

FB01 wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:44 pm Hi,

The rule is that whatever medical expense I have made, I can reimburse myself from my HSA account even if the expense was done 5 or 10 years back.

I have HSA account have say for e.g 30K. I am not taking any money now as allowing it to grow. Now if I need money, and I made an expense of $1000, 8 years back, do I need to have the actual copy of the receipt or statement of credit card should be fine. The Credit statement will be showing "Kaiser Permanente". Can anyone confirm?

If I am correct, receipts are required only when there is an audit but otherwise I can take out money from HSA based on my expense.

Can anyone help me understand how reimbursement from HSA works as I have not done yet.
Just one correction. Your initial statement is not correct in that you can not just reimburse yourself from your HSA for any old expenses. You can only reimburse expenses from when you first opened the HSA. The opening date for your HSA is a critical point forward that you can reimburse expenses.
Topic Author
FB01
Posts: 689
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 12:36 am

Re: Reimbursing yourself from HSA account

Post by FB01 »

Nate79 wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:00 pm
FB01 wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:44 pm Hi,

The rule is that whatever medical expense I have made, I can reimburse myself from my HSA account even if the expense was done 5 or 10 years back.

I have HSA account have say for e.g 30K. I am not taking any money now as allowing it to grow. Now if I need money, and I made an expense of $1000, 8 years back, do I need to have the actual copy of the receipt or statement of credit card should be fine. The Credit statement will be showing "Kaiser Permanente". Can anyone confirm?

If I am correct, receipts are required only when there is an audit but otherwise I can take out money from HSA based on my expense.

Can anyone help me understand how reimbursement from HSA works as I have not done yet.
Just one correction. Your initial statement is not correct in that you can not just reimburse yourself from your HSA for any old expenses. You can only reimburse expenses from when you first opened the HSA. The opening date for your HSA is a critical point forward that you can reimburse expenses.
Correct. I meant I opened HSA in 2015. I put money for 3 years and let it grow. Now in 2020, I need money, I can reimburse myself for any medical expense I had in 2015 or 2016 - not before 2015
Thanks, | FB
Post Reply