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Your 2026 HSA results
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Educational estimate, not tax, legal, or medical advice. Confirm with IRS Pub 969, Form 8889, and a tax professional before acting — the Medicare and excess-contribution rules carry real penalties.
The triple tax, and the three things that quietly break it
A Health Savings Account is the only account that's tax-advantaged at all three stages: money goes in pre-tax, grows tax-free, and comes out tax-free for qualified medical costs. No IRA or 401(k) does all three.
But three real-world facts change the answer, and the calculators ranking on page one mostly ignore them: your Medicare timing (which can retroactively erase contribution room), your state (California and New Jersey tax HSAs every year), and the 55+ catch-up proration in a partial year. Get those right and the number above is trustworthy.
In — the deduction (and FICA)
Contributions are above-the-line deductible. Made through payroll, they also skip the 7.65% FICA tax — a real edge over direct-then-deduct funding.
Grow — tax-free compounding
Interest, dividends, and gains compound federally tax-free. (In CA and NJ they don't — those states tax the earnings annually.)
Out — tax-free for medical
Qualified medical withdrawals are never taxed, with no deadline. Save receipts and reimburse yourself years later.
After 65 — a second life
Past 65, non-medical withdrawals are simply taxable with no penalty — so the HSA also behaves like a Traditional IRA.
2026 HSA & HDHP limits
These are the verified 2026 numbers from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19. As of mid-2026 there is no 2026 edition of Pub 969, so the Revenue Procedure — not Pub 969 — is the authority for the dollar amounts.
| Parameter | Self-only | Family |
|---|---|---|
| HSA contribution limit | $4,400 | $8,750 |
| Age 55+ catch-up flat, not indexed | +$1,000 | +$1,000 |
| HDHP minimum deductible | $1,700 | $3,400 |
| HDHP max out-of-pocket §223 limit | $8,500 | $17,000 |
A family HDHP's embedded individual deductible must be at least the family minimum ($3,400), not the self-only figure. And the §223 out-of-pocket maximums ($8,500 / $17,000) are separate from and lower than the ACA marketplace maximums — for HSA eligibility, the plan has to meet the lower §223 numbers.
Medicare & Social Security: where near-65 savers get hurt
This is the highest-stakes, highest-error part of HSA planning — and the reason this tool exists. A wrong "you can contribute" near Medicare creates excise-tax exposure for a real person.
Any Medicare = a $0 contribution limit
From the first month you're enrolled in any part of Medicare — A, B, C, or D — your HSA contribution limit is zero. You can still spend the balance tax-free forever, including on Part A, B, and D premiums (but not Medigap). Contributing and spending are separate gates.
The 6-month retroactive Part A lookback
Enrolling in Part A after 65 backdates your coverage six months — but never before the month you turned 65. So your real "stop contributing" date keys to your Medicare/Social Security application minus six months, not to the future coverage start date. Months that get backdated turn earlier contributions into excess, taxed at 6% per year until you withdraw them.
The Social Security auto-enrollment trap
If you're 65 or older and collecting Social Security, you're automatically enrolled in premium-free Part A and cannot opt out while drawing benefits. Filing for Social Security at 65 silently ends HSA eligibility — often retroactively through the lookback. The only escape is withdrawing the SS application (Form SSA-521): once per lifetime, within 12 months, repaying all benefits. Merely suspending benefits does not restore eligibility.
You can keep contributing past 65 only if you delay all Medicare parts (including premium-free Part A), are not drawing Social Security, and stay on an active group HDHP at an employer with 20 or more employees. Under 20 employees, Medicare is primary and Part A is effectively required. COBRA and retiree coverage do not qualify — and the 6-month lookback still applies whenever you finally enroll.
Don't reach for the last-month rule near 65
Being eligible on December 1 normally lets you fund the full annual limit — but only if you stay HSA-eligible through a 13-month testing period. Anyone hitting 65 or Medicare inside that window fails it, owing income tax plus a distinct 10% additional tax. Default to month-by-month proration instead; that's what this calculator does.
California & New Jersey tax HSAs. Almost nowhere else does.
The federal "triple tax-free" line is simply wrong for a large share of the population. California and New Jersey don't allow the deduction (you add the contribution back to state income) and tax in-account interest, dividends, and capital gains every year at ordinary rates. Qualified distributions still aren't taxed. New Jersey also lets HSA-paid expenses count toward its medical-expense deduction above a 2%-of-income floor.
- CA & NJ — contributions taxed, earnings taxed annually. Don't let these balances compound state-tax-free.
- No-income-tax states — AK, FL, NV, SD, TX, WY, plus TN and NH. State treatment is moot.
- Every other income-tax state — conforms automatically, because state income flows from federal AGI, which already reflects the deduction.
Tennessee's Hall tax and New Hampshire's Interest & Dividends tax are both repealed — neither taxes HSA earnings anymore, despite stale pages that still say so. And California did not conform for 2026: the bill that would have allowed the federal deduction (AB 781) died January 31, 2026. The real count of states taxing HSAs is two, not the "29" some sites claim.
What the 2026 law (OBBBA) actually changed
Three HSA changes are enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. L. 119-21, signed July 4, 2025), with interim IRS guidance in Notice 2026-5:
- Bronze & catastrophic Exchange plans now count as HDHPs — but only individual coverage available through the Exchange. "Any bronze plan qualifies" is wrong; SHOP/small-group bronze does not, and catastrophic stays limited to under-30/hardship.
- Direct Primary Care is compatible — but a DPC fee over $150/mo (single) or $300/mo becomes disqualifying coverage and costs you HSA eligibility entirely, not just a reimbursement cap. The caps index after 2026.
- Telehealth pre-deductible safe harbor is now permanent — and retroactive to 2025, so treat it as already in effect, not new for 2026.
The Senate stripped several widely-rumored provisions: doubled limits for lower-income filers, letting Medicare Part A seniors contribute, HSA eligibility despite a spouse's FSA, and pooling spousal catch-ups into one HSA. None became law. (And OBBBA "Trump Accounts" are child investment accounts — not health accounts.)
The stealth-retirement & receipt-banking play
For savers who can afford to leave it alone, the HSA is arguably the best retirement account in the code. Two moves do the heavy lifting:
Max & invest
Contribute the limit, invest the balance instead of spending it, and let it compound federally tax-free for decades.
The shoebox / receipt bank
Pay current medical costs out of pocket and save the receipts. There's no deadline to reimburse yourself — withdraw tax-free years later, after the money has grown.
The 65 pivot
After 65, non-medical withdrawals are just taxable income, no penalty — so worst case it's a Traditional IRA, best case a tax-free medical fund.
Adult-child loophole
A child on your family HDHP who isn't your tax dependent can open their own HSA and contribute the full family limit — though you then can't reimburse that child's expenses.
The catch for CA and NJ residents: the "compound tax-free" premise is weaker, because those states tax the earnings each year. The projection above already reflects that drag when you select either state.
The spouse-FSA trap
A general-purpose health FSA disqualifies HSA eligibility — and that includes a spouse's general-purpose FSA, because it can reimburse the whole family's medical expenses. Only a limited-purpose (dental/vision) or post-deductible FSA is compatible. The 2.5-month FSA grace period extends the disqualification into the next year unless the prior-year FSA balance was $0. Toggle this on in the calculator to see it zero out your eligibility.