So, you need to choose a health savings plan (HSA) to go along with your new health insurance plan. The best savings accounts help you save money with high interest rates and low fees and your HSA should be no different. With a high-yielding HSA, you can cover your out-of-pocket medical expenses and boost your savings at the same time.

Using data from DepositAccounts.com, a LendingTree-owned company, we scoured more than 17,100 nationwide banks and credit unions to find the highest HSA rates available. To ensure quality and availability, we excluded institutions with a DepositAccounts health rating below a B and credit unions with restrictive membership requirements.

HSA deposits at the institutions listed below are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or National Credit Union Administration.

The 10 best health savings accounts in 2022

1. Evansville Teachers FCU: 2.01% APY, $500 minimum balance

Evansville Teachers FCU’s Health Savings Checking account earns at a great interest rate on all balances of $500 and over. Plus, there’s no maintenance fees. You can also benefit from check writing abilities, debit card access and payroll deductions with an ETFCU HSA.

ETFCU also offers five HSA share certificates with term lengths ranging between one to five years. Each require $1,000 to open and earns a competitive interest rate. However, ETFCU doesn’t recommend you use HSA share certificates unless you’ve had an HSA established for a while, since locking money in share certificates make it much harder to to dip into your funds.

You can find Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union locations in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. The credit union is also a member of the Alliance One ATM network, which offers fee-free access to about 5,000 ATMs. ETFCU was started by several teachers in Evansville, Indiana, in 1936 — but you don’t have to be a teacher to qualify for ETFCU membership, though.

2. Connexus Credit Union: 2.00% APY, $15,000 minimum balance

Connexus Credit Union also offers a high HSA rate, but you’ll need at least $15,000 in your account to earn at that rate. Still, you can earn at decent rates on all other balances larger than $100, with higher balances benefitting best. In fact, all of them would still make our list. The account doesn’t require a minimum balance (though if you have less than $15,000 in the account, you would earn at the lower appropriate rate) or charge a monthly fee (unless your account is inactive). You can request an HSA debit card when you open your account to use for qualified medical expenses.

You can find Connexus branches and ATMs in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and New Hampshire. Connexus is also part of the CO-OP Shared Branch network, which gives you access to more than 5,600 Shared Branches and tens of thousands of surcharge-free ATMs through both CO-OP and MoneyPass. To open an account with the credit union, you’ll need to become a Connexus Credit Union member.

3. The Adirondack Trust Company: 1.00% APY, no minimum balance

To get started with an Adirondack Trust Company Health Savings Account, you’ll only need to deposit $1 and pay a $25 fee — after that, there’s no other minimum balance requirement to earn interest. To access your health savings account, you can take advantage of free unlimited check writing and free ATM access with your ATC HSA Visa debit card. Getting paper statements on this account will cost $4 while getting statements online will still cost you $2.

Founded in 1901 in upstate Saratoga Springs, N.Y., ATC maintains 13 branches along the Adirondack Mountains area and offers access to two Amsure insurance branches in Saratoga Springs and Albany, N.Y.

4. First Technology Federal Credit Union — 1.00% APY, no minimum balance

First Technology Federal Credit Union’s HSA Checking account is easy to open and own. In addition to its decent rate, it doesn’t charge HSA setup or monthly service fees, nor are there any minimum balance requirements. You just need at least $10 to open the account and to start earning interest. To open this HSA, you can call First Technology FCU at 855-855-8805.

You’ll receive a free HSA debit card with the account, which you can use at nearly 30,000 CO-OP ATMs. You can also visit First Tech branches in 10 states and access more than 5,600 CO-OP Shared Branch locations.

You can qualify for a First Tech membership depending on your employment, place of residence or by becoming a member of either the Computer History Museum or the Financial Fitness Association. First Technology Credit Union was founded in 1952 by members of Hewlett-Packard and Tektronix.

5. Northpointe Bank: 0.50% APY, no minimum balance

You’ll need a $100 minimum to open health savings account at Northpointe Bank, but after that, there’s no minimum balance to earn this APY. You’ll also pay no monthly fee. Debit cards, checks, and bill pay are available on the account, which allows unlimited transactions.

With headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich., Northpointe Bank was established in 1999. The bank has branch locations in 24 states, but you can also bank online.

6. Genisys Credit Union: 0.50% APY, no minimum balance

There’s no minimum balance required to earn this APY from Genisys. They also charge no fees and give you a debit card to access your HSA. To open one you’ll need to go to their Retirement Central page and click on “Open an IRA,” which will give you the option of choosing an HSA.

Genisys Credit Union, founded in 1936, is based in Michigan. If you live outside the areas they serve in Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania and have no family members who are current members, you can easily join by making a contribution to the Arthritis Foundation or Pain Creek Center for the Arts.

7. Technology Credit Union: 0.50% APY, $2,500 minimum balance

Technology Credit Union offers both individual and family health savings accounts, which you can open with any balance. You’ll need to contribute $2,500 to secure this rate, but if you can’t swing that much at first, you’ll still earn a competitive APY on balances below $2,500. The monthly maintenance fee is a low $2. Technology Credit Union will even waive the fee for the first six months; after that, you’ll need a minimum balance of $100 to waive the fee.

Founded in 1960, Technology Credit Union was started by employees at Fairchild Camera and Instrument Semiconductor Division in Silicon Valley. Today, Technology Credit Union membership is available to employees at several partner companies, family members of current members, individuals in select California counties, and members of affiliated organizations, including the nonprofit Financial Fitness Association.

8. Corporate America Family Credit Union: 0.50% APY, $10,000 minimum balance

At Corporate America Family Credit Union or CAFCU, you’ll earn interest on as little as $1 in your account. To take advantage of this listed rate, you’ll need to fund your HSA with $10,000, but even as little as $5,000 earns you a rate not far below our top 10.

CAFCU was founded by 15 employees as Automatic Credit Union in 1939. After a couple of changes in management and name, the credit union has widened its membership eligibility to include employees at sponsor companies, family members of current members, and those residing or working within a 25-mile radius of a CAFCU branch. You can also join the credit union by being a member of The Hope Group, which you can join at the end of your CAFCU application.

9. CapEd Credit Union: 0.45% APY, $25,000 minimum balance

Although there is no minimum deposit requirement, you’ll only earn this APY on balances of $25,000–99,999.99. However, they offer pretty good rates on lower amounts also; they just wouldn’t make our list. CapEd has no monthly charges on their HSA, which will need to be opened over the phone unless you live near a branch in Idaho. #Savings. cap

Unless you live, work, or go to school in one of the Idaho counties CapEd serves, or are related to someone who does, you’ll need to first become a member of the Idaho CapEd Foundation with a onetime $20 membership fee. Then you’ll be able to join the credit union, which began as Boise Teachers Federal Credit Union in 1936.

10. IncredibleBank — 0.45% APY, $25,000 minimum balance

While there’s no minimum deposit or balance requirement for their HSA account as a whole, you’ll need to keep a balance of $25,000 or above in the account to snag the worthwhile 0.45% APY. Balances from $1,000 and up still earn interest, just at much lower rates. If you sign up for paperless statements, you’ll avoid their $5 paper statement fee.

IncredibleBank traces its history back to 1967 as River Valley Bank. Today, it is headquartered in Wausau, Wis., and has 15 locations in Wisconsin and Michigan.

How to use your HSA wisely

Health savings accounts are used only for medical expenses, and if you shop around you can earn interest on your balances with the right account. But did you know HSAs offer tax benefits, too? You fund an HSA with pre-tax dollars, which lowers your taxable income in the year you make the deposit. As long as you spend HSA funds on approved medical expenses, it doesn’t get taxed. If you do use your HSA funds for something other than approved medical expenses, you may get hit with a 20% tax penalty.

This HSA tax advantage can come in especially handy in retirement. Funding an HSA today reduces your tax burden come tax time. If you wait until retirement to make those withdrawals, you can turn your HSA into a significant retirement contribution. Not only has the balance been earning interest for years, but now you can use that money for medical expenses, which tend to pile up in retirement. Plus, after you reach age 65, you can use your HSA for non-medical expenses without triggering the 20% tax penalty, although the withdrawals are taxed like normal income, similar to IRA withdrawals. This also applies in the event you become disabled or die.

HSA requirements

You can generally open health savings account if you’re already covered by a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). This works well since the HSA funds can help you cover the higher out-of-pocket costs that usually come with having an HDHP. To qualify for an HSA, you also can’t have other health coverage, be enrolled in Medicare or be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.

HSA contribution limits

Asset by the IRS, the amount you can contribute to your health savings account will depend on your HDHP coverage, your age, the date you become eligible, and the date you stop being eligible.

For 2022, you can contribute up to $3,650 to your HSA as an individual with self-only coverage (up from $3,600 for 2021). Individuals with family coverage may contribute up to $7,300 (up from $7,200 for 2021).

For 2022, an HDHP is defined as a health plan where the annual deductible is greater than $1,400 for self-only coverage and $2,800 for family coverage. Additionally, the maximum annual out-of-pocket amount is $7,050 for individuals and $14,100 for families.

HSA vs. FSA

A flexible spending account, or FSA, is another type of supplemental medical spending account. Like an HSA, FSAs are also funded with pre-tax dollars to use towards qualified medical expenses like prescriptions and copayments. FSAs are employer-sponsored, however, and are usually funded through voluntary salary contributions, but your employer can also contribute. You cannot open an FSA if you’re self-employed. No taxes are deducted from your contribution. For 2022, you cannot contribute more than $2,850 to an FSA.

What further sets FSAs apart from HSAs is that you must use the money in an FSA by Dec. 31 of the contribution year, unless your employer grants you a grace period or carryover option. A big drawback to FSAs is that if you don’t use the money in the account on time, your employer gets those funds. This is also true if you were to leave the company. On the opposite, the funds in an HSA are yours to keep even if you leave your company.

Health savings account vs. online savings accounts

While health savings accounts help you designate funds toward medical expenses, most HSAs traditionally don’t earn at the competitive rates we’ve come to see from online savings accounts. A $10,000 deposit into an HSA earning 2.01% APY would yield $201 after a year of annual compounding interest. This actually currently beats the best online savings accounts. A savings account earning 0.65% would yield $136 less than the HSA after a year.

Still, it’s worth considering high-yield online savings account for your non-medical expenses, especially since you typically don’t have to meet any requirements to open an online savings account, like having an HDHP or meeting credit union membership qualifications.

Source: https://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/best-of/health-savings-accounts/

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