HR Fast Facts: HSA, FSA, HRA Overview
Learn about the differences between Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs).
Included is a chart that provides an overview of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs).
The IRS also has a list of eligible medical expenses that can be found here.
| Health Savings Account (HSA) | Flexible Spending Account (FSA) | Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) | |
| Eligibility | Only employees enrolled in an HSA-compatible, high-deductible medical plan. | All employees. | All employees. |
| Who can put money in? | Both employer and employee | Both employer and employee | Employer only |
| When can contributions be changed? | At any time | Once a year | Once a year |
| What happens to excess funds at the end of the year? | Employees keep them | Returned to employer | Returned to employer |
| When are funds available? | Only as deposited in the account | Full amount on day 1 – Even if the employee has only contributed a portion of the annual amount | Full amount on day 1 |
| Maximum Contribution | $3 ,650 ( 2022) single
$7 ,300 (2022) family |
$ 2750 for 2020 individual & employer each $ 5500 for dependent care |
No limit |
| Use this… | …in combination with an HSA-compatible, high-deductible medical plan | …to give all employees (including those not enrolled in an HSA-compatible medical plan) the ability to put pre-tax dollars towards medical expenses | …to pay for employee deductibles and medical expenses |
Combining benefits
Note: Employees cannot enroll in a Health Savings Account (HSA) and a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) at the same time. If an employee would like to enroll in both HSA and FSA, the employee should enroll in the Dependent Care FSA and the HSA. They should not enroll in both the HSA and FSA medical care account.
