Health Savings Account
This account is available to those who are currently enrolled in the PPO 3 HSA medical plan or were enrolled in PPO 3 HSA medical plan in a prior year.
***All HSA accounts transitioned from BenefitWallet to HealthEquity on April 11, 2024.***
Loyola University Chicago offers a Health Savings Account, or HSA, to complement the PPO 3 HSA medical plan option. An HSA is a bank account that allows you to save and pay for your share of every day qualified healthcare expenses tax-free. You can pay for qualified expenses for you, your spouse, and any tax dependent (including LDAs) with your HSA–even if they are not covered by your health plan.
If you are enrolled in PPO 3, you can start, stop, or change your HSA contributions at any time during the year. Contact benefits@luc.edu if you would like to adjust your contributions.
The Health Savings Account (HSA) Vendor is HealthEquity (effective April 11, 2024)*
Phone: 877.750.1445
Member portal: https://my.healthequity.com
Annual Contributions
Loyola will make a contribution into your HSA in January if you are re-enrolling. If you are a new hire the HSA employer contribution will be prorated based on your date of hire within the current calendar year.
- Employee Only: $600*
- Employee + 1 or More: $1,200*
You can contribute up to the following amounts tax-free (less Loyola's contribution):
|
Total Annual Contribution Limit for 2024 |
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Your Max $3,550 + Loyola Contribution $600.00 = $4,150.00 total |
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You + 1 Max $7,100.00 + Loyola Contribution $1,200.00 = $8,300.00 total |
If you are 55 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000 in catch-up contributions, too. Contributions are not subject to federal income tax, Social Security tax or Medicare tax.
*If you are a new hire or switch to PPO 3 HSA due to a life event, Loyola’s HSA contribution will be prorated based on your plan eligibility date.
HSA Advantages
- Spend up to 35% less on health care costs with a triple-tax advantage
- Your savings never expire
- You can invest your funds
- You can use funds for health care costs for you or your family
Qualified Health Care Eligible Expenses and Limitations
Many different healthcare expenses are eligible for reimbursement. Eligible health care expenses are expenses incurred by you, your spouse, or your eligible dependents for “medical care” as defined by IRS code. Generally, this means an item or service for which you could have claimed a medical care expense deduction on an itemized federal income tax return, for which you have not otherwise been reimbursed or could be reimbursed from insurance or some other source.
For example, you may claim reimbursement for the following expenses:
- Health care deductibles
- Copays
- Expenses not covered by other plans
- Routine physical or dental examinations
- Infertility treatments
- Braces and other orthodontia
- Vision expenses
- Hearing care expenses
You may not use your HSA to reimburse yourself for over‐the‐counter (OTC) medications unless you have a prescription from a doctor. Be sure to include the prescription with your receipt when requesting reimbursement. For a complete listing of eligible expenses, consult IRS Publication 502.
Last Updated 4.16.2024
You must be enrolled in an HSA qualified health plan which is the PPO 3 HSA option. If addition, you cannot be covered by another health plan (including Medicare or Tricare) or be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.
You can contribute to your account with payroll deductions, online by making deposits from your checking account, or by mailing a personal check.
Your HSA funds never expire. Any funds you don’t spend roll over year after year and can be saved for retirement. Although there is an annual limit for contributions, there is no limit to the total amount saved in your account.
Funds in your HSA can be used to pay for any out-of-pocket expenses that you owe as part of your health plan – doctor’s visits, prescriptions, lab tests, and hospitalizations. Additionally, dental, vision, acupuncture, and chiropractic expenses can also be paid with your HSA. For a complete list of qualified expenses, visit https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf.
You may designate beneficiaries by logging in to the BenefitWallet member portal and clicking Beneficiaries in the secondary navigation bar.
You can contribute to a Dependent Day Care FSA but you cannot contribute to a Health Care FSA. You can enroll in a Limited Flexible Spending Account (LFSA), which can only be used toward eligible dental and vision expenses.
If you and your spouse are both HSA-eligible (enrolled in PPO 3 HSA, or a different high-deductible plan outside of Loyola), you must share one family HSA contribution limit, as the IRS treats married couples as a single tax unit. You have three options:
- Split the family contribution evenly between the spouses
- Allocate the funds to a division you both agree on
- Contribute the limit to just one's spouse's account
Yes, you may both open an HSA. However, the total amount that may be contributed to your HSAs is still the contribution limit.
If you do not enroll in Medicare and remain in an HSA-qualified health plan, you can continue to contribute to your HSA as you did before age 65. If you choose to enroll in Medicare, you are no longer eligible to contribute to your HSA, but you can continue to use it for qualified expenses. Additional expenses qualify at age 65, including certain Medicare premiums. At age 65 you are also no longer subject to the HSA excise tax, allowing you to use your HSA for nonqualified expenses and just pay regular income tax – similar to how you can use funds from the Defined Contribution Retirement Plan (DCRP 403(b) plan) in retirement.
The monthly maintenance fee is employer paid by Loyola as long as you are enrolled in PPO 3. This fee is $1.90 per employee per month if the monthly average balance is $3,000 or less. No fees apply if the monthly average balance is $3,000 or higher.
You own your HSA. If you change jobs or health plans, you continue to own your account. If you enroll in another HSA-qualified health plan, you can continue to contribute to your HSA up to age 65. If you choose another type of health plan, you are still eligible to spend the funds in your HSA on qualified medical expenses — for you, your spouse, and your tax dependents — up to age 65. At age 65 or older, you may use the funds for ANY expenses on a tax-free basis.
*Note: The monthly maintenance fee is employer paid by Loyola as long as you are enrolled in the PPO 3 HSA plan. This fee is $1.90 per employee per month if the monthly average balance is $3,000 or less. No fees apply if the monthly average balance is $3,000 or higher.
