Health Savings Account 2026

All active, benefits-eligible employees enrolled in the Health Savings option are required to have an HSA. You must be eligible for an HSA in order to enroll in Health Savings. You are eligible for an HSA if:

• You are not a wage employee
• You do not hold a J1 visa
• You are not enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid, or are listed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return
• You, or your spouse, do not have a balance in a health care FSA, are part of a FSA grace period, or your plan year is not over
• You have not received healthcare benefits from the Veterans Administration (TRICARE) within the last 3 months
• You will not be enrolled in another healthcare plan as a dependent, spouse, or subscriber (unless if that plan is also a high deductible health plan) when the HSA begins.
• You have not already contributed the annual federal limit to another HSA, Medical Savings Account (MSA), or HRA in the same calendar year

If you are switching from UVA PPO or Choice Health to Health Savings and you have a Full Healthcare FSA, you must close your FSA. You will need to have a balance of $0.00 in your Full FSA by December 31 to open your HSA. Otherwise:

• Your HSA cannot be opened, and you will not be able to make employee contributions until April 1, 2026
• You will not be able to use money in your account to cover any expenses incurred prior to April 1, 2026

If you are enrolled in a Health Savings Account (HSA), you are not eligible for a Full Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA), but you can enroll in a Limited and/or Dependent Daycare FSA to maximize your savings.

• Learn more about a Limited Flexible Spending Account

Depending upon your employee type, the University may contribute to your HSA.

• Employee only coverage in Health Savings receives a $1,000 annual contribution from UVA
• Coverage for employee + dependents in Health Savings receives a $1,500 annual contribution 

Currently, UVA contributes money to open HSA accounts in the UVA Health Savings Account Program for permanent full- and part-time benefits-eligible Academic and University Medical Center employees who are enrolled in the UVA Health Plan's Health Savings option. Wage employees enrolled in Health Savings are not part of this population. These funds roll over from year to year and are yours to keep and use for eligible expenses, even if you switch to another UVA Health Plan option or leave the University.

The annual employer contribution from UVA will be prorated in the following instances:

• New hire enrollments and employees who are newly eligible for benefits
• UVA employer contributions will not change for any employee who gains or loses a dependent in the same calendar year

You may choose to contribute to your HSA, though you are not required to do so. Employee contributions made by payroll are deducted before taxes. Each year, the IRS sets a contribution limit. This limit includes employer and employee contributions and is per household, so families with two partners working for different employers must keep the limits in mind.

• The 2026 maximum contribution is $4,400 for employee only, or $8,750 for employee + dependents. These are pre-tax dollars reserved for health care expenses and carry over beyond your retirement.
• Those age 55 and older may make an additional catch-up contribution of up to $1,000 per year.

EXAMPLE: You are under 55. If you want to contribute the maximum of $4,400 to your HSA and are eligible to receive $1,000 in employer contributions, you would elect $3,400 as the employee contribution, to meet the maximum IRS limit for the year of $4,400. 

Funds are sent to your Fidelity account following your first benefits deduction payroll for 2026.

Balances roll over each year and accrue interest, and you keep the balance even if you leave UVA.

You may invest your HSA assets in a variety of investment options—including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds—for potential growth of your account over time. Any growth made from the investment is tax-free as long as it is used on eligible medical expenses.

All active, benefits-eligible employees enrolled in Health Savings are required to have a Health Savings Account (HSA). Funds in your HSA can be used for eligible health care, dental, and vision expenses. Funds in these accounts roll over each year and are yours to keep for future health care costs.

If you are enrolled in a Health Savings Account, you are not eligible for a Full Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, but you can enroll in a Limited and/or Dependent Daycare Flexible Spending Account to maximize your savings.

A Flexible Spending Account (FSA), makes it possible for you to pay for certain expenses on a pre-tax basis, which makes your money go farther.

Here are resources to help you learn more:

• Dependent Care FSA FAQs
• FSA 2026 webpage
• Full Healthcare FSA
• Healthcare FSA FAQs
• Healthcare FSA Qualified Medical Expenses
• HSA Reference Guide
• HSA vs FSA; What's the Difference?
• Limited Purpose FSA
• UVA HSA Employee Educational Guide
• You have an HSA? Do You Need a Limited Purpose FSA?

Contributions are accepted into new HSAs the month after the account is opened by Fidelity. Sometimes Fidelity may request more information to open an account. Be sure to follow up on any requests to get your HSA opened in a timely manner.

• UVA contributes either $1,000 (employee only) or $1,500 (employee plus) once your account is opened, and the funds will show up in your Fidelity account and in your first full deduction payslip in 2026.
• If you were hired in December, you may not have your HSA funds available until February 2026.
• There are two primary ways to spend those funds for eligible expenses:
  1. Use your prepaid Fidelity benefits card at the time of purchase for eligible expenses.
  2. Submit claims or make payments from your accounts online through the Fidelity website.

If you are enrolled in the Health Savings option with HSA, the HSA offers a triple tax advantage that makes it an excellent long-term savings vehicle.

• Money goes into your HSA tax-free
• Your HSA savings used to pay for qualified medical expenses are not taxed
• Any extra savings can be invested and earnings and interest grow tax free

You could contribute enough to cover the average out-of-pocket costs that you will likely incur over the course of the year. This strategy makes it more likely that you’ll have the funds on hand to cover the medical care you will need. And, as bonus, if you end up with extra funds at the end of the year, you get to keep that money to cover future medical expenses – including in retirement. 

HSA funds cannot be refunded to you from your HSA account using the UVA payroll process if you contribute more than the IRS allows or if you change your mind about the amount you've already contributed. Be sure to calculate accurately when making your election. You can change the amount of your employee HSA contribution amount taken from future paychecks by changing your benefits in Workday.

Each year, the IRS sets a contribution limit. This limit includes employer and employee contributions and is per household.

Depending on your employee type, UVA may contribute money to your HSA to help offset the higher deductible.

You may choose to contribute to your HSA, though you are not required to do so. Employee contributions made by payroll are deducted before taxes.

Anyone with a P.O. Box as their home address in Workday will have their request to open a health savings account rejected by Fidelity. It is a Patriot Act requirement to have a physical address on file before the HSA can be opened.

Please verify your contact information contains your physical address within workday during Open Enrollment.

Yes, both spouses can have their own individual HSA, whether they work for the same employer or different employers. However, the IRS maximum contribution is a household maximum, so the combined contribution of both spouses, along with any employer contribution, cannot exceed $8,750. If each spouse has employee only coverage, each spouse cannot contribute more than $4,400 each, including employer contributions. 

If you will be enrolled in Medicare Part A or B at any time during the year, you should not enroll in Health Savings since you cannot contribute to an HSA while on Medicare (employer contributions are included in this).

You can keep the funds in your HSA and continue to use them for eligible medical, dental, and vision expenses. However, you can no longer contribute to the HSA. 

There is no requirement to spend down your HSA before moving to another plan, even if you will enroll in an FSA. 

You cannot contribute to a full healthcare FSA and an HSA in the same plan year. However, you can maintain an HSA from a previous year’s plan and continue to use the funds for eligible health, dental, and vision expenses; you just can no longer contribute to it. 

Also, your spouse cannot contribute to a full healthcare FSA if you are contributing to an HSA, or contribute to an HSA if you are contributing to a full healthcare FSA (in the same plan year). 

Employer contributions count as part of the employee’s contributions.

You must spend down your FSA funds to $0 by 12/31/2025 to open your HSA in January 2026. If you have any funds left in your FSA in 2025, your HSA cannot be opened until April of 2026, after the FSA grace period has ended. 

We recommend that you do not wait until the last week of December to spend the funds so that there is enough time for processing payments.