The BIGGEST advantages are; the money is yours, is held in a investment account, and is portable. Additional advantages of owning an HSA are:

Security – Your HSA can provide a savings buffer for unexpected or high medical bills.

Affordability – In most cases, you can lower your monthly health insurance premiums when you switch to health insurance coverage with a higher deductible, and these HDHPs can be paired with an HSA.

Watch your HSA grow – Your HSA account earns tax-free interest. Maximize your tax-free earning potential by investing HSA funds using the convenient online investment tool.

Flexibility – You can use your HSA to pay for current medical expenses, including your deductible and expenses that your insurance may not cover, or you can save your funds for future medical expenses, such as:

• Health insurance or medical expenses if unemployed
• Medical expenses after retirement (before Medicare)
• Out-of-pocket expenses when covered by Medicare
• Long-term care expenses and insurance

Savings – You can save the money in your HSA for future medical expenses, all while your account grows through tax-deferred investment earnings.

Control – You make the decisions regarding:

• How much money you will put in the account
• When to make contributions to the account
• Whether to save the account for future expenses or pay current medical expenses
• Which expenses to pay for from the account
• How to invest the money in the account

Portability – Accounts are completely portable, meaning you can keep your HSA even if you:

• Change jobs
• Change your medical coverage
• Become unemployed
• Move to another state

Ownership – Funds remain in the account from year to year, just like an IRA. There are no “use it or lose it” rules for HSAs, making it a great way to save money for future medical expenses.

Tax Savings – An HSA provides you with triple tax savings:

• Tax deductions when you contribute to your account
• Tax-free earnings through investment
• Tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses

An HSA allows you to be more involved with decisions on how your healthcare dollars are actually spent and encourages you to budget effectively and save money. The funds that you elect to contribute on a pre-tax basis into your HSA will pay for current and future health care qualified expenses.

Determine the right amount of money to contribute to your HSA. To take full advantage of tax savings and to build a reserve for the future, it is suggested that you maximize your contributions as set by the IRS.

You are 100% responsible to ensure that you do not exceed the maximum IRS annual contribution limits set by the IRS. HSA Contributions in excess of the IRS annual contribution limits are not tax deductible and are generally subject to a 6% excise tax.

Use your HSA for qualified medical expenses. 

HSA funds can be used for a variety of qualified medical, dental and vision expenses

(Click link below)

2025 FSA and HSA Guide

If you would like to Open an HSA with HealthEquity, please visit: https://easyhsa.healthequity.com/Signup/Member#/welcome

The enrollment process will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. During your enrollment, you will be asked to provide personal information. HealthEquity is required by the USA Patriot Act to verify your identity, using the following information, before opening a health savings account (HSA).

• Name
• Address
• Valid email address
• Social Security Number (SSN)
• Insurance information, including insurance company, deductible, and coverage tier

Questions? Call HealthEquity at (866) 341-4934.

California Times offers an HSA account through HealthEquity.

The HSA account sponsored by California Times and through HealthEquity will integrate with Collective Health making it much easier to administer your account alongside your medical HDHP.

Collective Health and HealthEquity

Collective Health and HealthEquity have an integration to help provide members a seamless experience when interacting with their Health Funds accounts. This includes features such as:

• Single sign on from the Collective Health portal
• Account balances displayed in the Collective Health portal and mobile app
• Medical and pharmacy claims sent daily to HealthEquity for member’s substantiation and claims submission
• Member Advocate support providing account balances and election information