How To Enroll and Contribute

The fifth in a series of articles on HSAs

This is the last in a series of articles from Employee Benefits on the Health Savings Account (HSA) that will be available to Consumer-Directed Health Plan (CDHP) members beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

An HSA is an individually owned, tax-advantaged account that puts the retiree in control over how his or her healthcare dollars are spent.

How to enroll

The annual Retiree Medical Plan Election Period for 2009 will be from Oct. 20 through Nov. 7.

Retirees who enroll in the CDHP for 2009 also will be provided the opportunity to open an HSA. There are two options available for retirees to enroll in the HSA.

A retiree can open their HSA by going to www.firsthorizonhsa.com/tvaretiree and completing the Online Enrollment process.
A retiree can complete the First Horizon Msaver HSA Enrollment Form (PDF, 126 kb). This form will also be included with a retiree’s medical plan election packet. Once a retiree has completed this form, it can be mailed to the address on the bottom of the front page of the form, or faxed to First Horizon Msaver at 913-317-2015.

Before starting the HSA enrollment process, retirees should have a primary identification on hand − such as their driver’s license, passport, state-issued picture ID or U.S. military ID.

Once a retiree has completed the HSA enrollment process, his or her account will be held for opening until the last week of December.

After an account is opened during the last week of December, a Welcome Kit containing important information on how to access the HSA account, make additional deposits and pay for qualified medical expenses will be sent to the retiree.

For security purposes, the retiree’s First Horizon HSA VISA® Debit Card will arrive in a separate package within five to 10 business days after receipt of the Welcome Kit.

Retirees will have a monthly administration fee of $2.25 deducted from their HSA by First Horizon. Other fees, such as those for investment fund options and account closing, will be highlighted in the Welcome Kit to be received upon enrolling in the HSA.

How to contribute

Retirees decide whether or not to contribute to their HSA. Retirees can contribute to their HSA by:

Mailing contributions using deposit slips from your HSA checkbook or
Automatically transferring monthly contributions from a personal checking or savings account. Funds are transferred on a specific day each month.

Retirees that discontinue their enrollment in the CDHP in the future can continue to use the funds in their HSA for qualified medical expenses but can no longer contribute to the account.

Retiree responsibilities

It is important for retirees to remember they own their HSA.

It is the retiree’s (i.e., account owner’s) responsibility to understand how an HSA works and the associated Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules and regulations − that is, eligibility requirements, contribution limits, qualified medical expenses, etc.

HSA account owners will receive monthly statements from First Horizon similar to a regular checking account showing average balance, closing balance and any debits or credits to the account. Account owners also will have online account access.

Each year a 1099-SA and a 5498-SA statement is issued to assist with income-tax filling.

It is important for retirees to keep copies of medical receipts to verify how they use their HSA funds. An HSA account owner is responsible to the IRS for all types of withdrawals made from their HSA and will be required to pay taxes on and will face a 10-percent tax penalty (if the money is spent before age 65) if any HSA money is used for purposes other than to pay for qualified medical expenses.

More information

Retirees can call the First Horizon Msaver Customer Care Center at 1-888-355-6124 or visit www.firsthorizonmsaver.com/tva. The Care Center and Web site are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.