You must be covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to be able to take advantage of HSAs. An HDHP generally costs less than what traditional health care coverage costs, so the money that you save on insurance can therefore be put into the Health Savings Account.

        You own and you control the money in your HSA. Decisions on how to spend the money are made by  you without relying on a third party or a health insurer. You will also decide what types of investments to make with the money in the account in order to make it grow.

        HSA funds can pay for any “qualified medical expense”, even if the expense is not covered by your HDHP. For example, most health insurance does not cover the cost of over-the-counter medicines, but HSAs can.  If the money from the HSA is used for qualified medical expenses, then the money spent is tax-free.

        Once funds are deposited into the HSA, the account can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses tax-free, even if you no longer have HDHP coverage.  The funds in your account roll over automatically each year and remain indefinitely until used.  There is no time limit on using the funds.

        I highly recommend Health Savings Accounts. In fact, I have an HSA for myself and my family. It has worked well for us and we have substantially reduced our health insurance expenses.