A little about HSAs

To participate in a Health Savings Account, you must be enrolled in a compatible high-deductible health plan (HDHP). An HDHP is a health plan with an annual deductible of at least $1,100 for an individual and $2,200 for two or more family members. Maximum annual out-of-pocket for in-network expenses cannot exceed $5,600 for an individual or $11,200 for two or more family members. When you participate in an HDHP, you can set aside money in an HSA to pay for eligible out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Money can be contributed to your HSA up to a maximum of $2,900 for single coverage or $5,800 for family coverage in 2008. Contributions to your HSA are tax-deductible at the federal level (pre-tax if made by your employer), and withdrawals are not taxed as long as they are used to pay for qualified medical expenses. Unlike flexible spending accounts, HSAs do not have a “use-it-or-lose-it” requirement. Your account balance plus investment earnings carry over from year to year — tax free.

Welcome to our HSA Blog!

Welcome to the first posting here on our Health Savings Account (or HSA) Blog. My name is Glenn Cochrane and I am President and founder of Cochrane Insurance & Annuity Services. We are a full service insurance agency here in beautiful Northern California. We broker Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance, Voluntary Employee Benefits and Annuities. We are firm believers in Health Savings Accounts for many reasons that we are excited to share. The purpose of this Blog is to give anyone interested in more information specifically about Health Savings Accounts direct access to myself. This is a way for me to give potential clients or just those of you who are curious a more personal forum to ask questions and get answers about Health Savings Accounts. This blog should benefit people who don't know anything about HSA's, those who are currently looking into a Health Savings Account, or even those who already have HSA's and just have questions. Please use this blog to post any question no matter how big, small or complicated. I will do my best to find and post a response as soon as I can find the answer. Health Savings Accounts can be very confusing due to their unique nature and because they are so new. Please visit my website at http://www.cochraneinsurance.com/ to find more information as well. Once again, welcome and thank you for visiting.