Health Savings Account (HSA)

Health Savings Account

If you are currently only enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan, you can open a MetLife HSA to pay for qualified out-of-pocket healthcare expenses with pre-tax dollars and save for healthcare costs over the long term, including retirement.

Getting Started with Your HSA

Your HSA has many financial benefits. You can use it for out-of-pocket qualified medical, dental, vision and preventive care expenses, and it can help you achieve your financial goals now and in the future.

Advantages of an HSA

Triple-tax savings: Employee and employer contributions are tax-advantaged, your balances and investments grow tax-free, and you can take out tax-free funds at any time to pay for or reimburse qualified out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.²

Build a safety net: HSAs are not “use-it-or-lost-it” accounts. Unlike flexible spending accounts (FSAs), unused HSA dollars accumulate and grow tax-free year over year.

Your HSA for life: Your HSA, including employer contributions, belongs to you even if you leave your job. It’s never too late to achieve financial security, especially since we’re living longer lives than ever before.

Make your HSA work for you: Similar to a 401(k) plan, your HSA can earn interest and investment options are available.³ Remember, the interest and earnings are not taxed², and there is no maximum on the HSA balance you can accumulate. This means every dollar you don’t take out of the HSA today is another dollar you can grow for future needs.

Additional tax savings at age 55. The more you contribute to your HSA, the more you save on taxes. And, at age 55, you can contribute an additional $1,000 over the IRS annual contribution limit.

Invest your HSA: The MetLife HSA pays interest on HSA cash deposits - more than 3X higher than industry average interest rates.⁶ You also have investment flexibility though a variety of mutual fund investment options. Automatically allocate funds from your cash account into your HSA investment account for tax-free investment growth for future needs⁷

See how others are using their HSA Watch Here

My HSA Planner Calculator : Our HSA Planner Tool at MyHSAplanner.com/Met provides personalized information on how much you may wish to save each year and how those savings may grow over time.

Terms and Conditions

Health Savings Account

Expenses Covered with your HSA

Use your tax-advantaged HSA to pay for qualified healthcare expenses. Here are some examples of what a HSA covers⁴:

Copays, coinsurance and deductibles
Office visits, X-rays and lab work
Qualified vision and dental expenses
Prescriptions and OTC medications and supplies
Items such as blood pressure monitors and diabetic testing supplies

HSA + Retirement

Your HSA is the perfect companion to a retirement plan. Maximizing your contributions to both can help build your retirement nest egg.

Four ways an HSA helps you address healthcare concerns in retirement

HSAs growth and withdrawals allow you to save money through tax-advantaged contributions and tax-free withdrawals².
Turning to an HSA to cover your healthcare retirement costs can allow you to focus your retirement savings accounts on other expenses.
You can invest your HSA funds to maximize the account growth potential³.
You can contribute an additional $1,000 each year beginning the year you turn 55⁵.

See how others use their HSA for retirement Learn More.

It’s easy to use your HSA account and get help when you need it

Accessing and using your HSA is easy and convenient

Easy enrollment and account setup.
Easy payments with a MetLife debit card: a single, smart card with mobile wallet abilities.
24/7/365 account access through the secure, easy-to-use online portal and mobile app so you can quickly check your balance, research investments and track activity through MetLife's portal and mobile app.
Educational resource library and interactive planning tools and one-click answers to your benefits questions.
Access your money three ways when you need to pay for expenses - use your debit card, pay providers directly, or request a distribution to reimburse yourself.
Automatic payroll deduction of your pre-elected HSA contribution amount and automatic tax reporting of all contributions.
Receipt organizer makes it easy to store unreimbursed qualified healthcare receipts that you can use to validate future withdrawals from your HSA.

IDV process:

Identification Verification Process (IDV) for New Account Holders

All new Account holders will need to complete an Identification Verification Process (IDV). This process is required under banking regulations to verify the accountholder’s identity. In most cases, this process will occur automatically and no action is required by you. In some cases, MetLife will need additional information to verify your identity, and will send you an email notification of what you need to provide to complete the IDV process.

If you do not complete the process, MetLife will send a second email notification to you. This second email notification is the final notice provided by MetLife to you. You will need to complete the IDV process within 60 days of the initial notification from MetLife, or your HSA will be considered “inactive” and you will not have access to the funds.

Once you have completed the process, it’s important to log in to your MetLife account to activate your online access. Members who do not log in to their MetLife account in the first 12 months will need to contact MetLife customer service to reactivate their online access.

^1. You can contribute to an HSA if: (1) you are not covered under any other health plan that is not a qualified HDHP, including a general purpose health care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), or if you are not covered under TRICARE; (2) you are not enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid and (3) you cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.

^2. HSA funds used for non-qualified expenses are taxed and subject to a 20% penalty for accountholders less than 65 years of age. Beginning at age 65, HSA funds for non-qualified expenses are taxed, but do not incur any penalty.

^3. All investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

^4. See IRS publication 502 available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf for information about eligible dependents and a list of qualified expenses. In addition, there may be legislation or additional publications that may modify or expand available qualified expenses. Please refer to your employers’ plan document for the latest list of qualified expenses under your plan.

^5. Contribution limits are subject to change and should be checked on an annual basis on the IRS website.

^6. MetLife Internal Analysis (last updated November 2020). Cash savings balances in an HSA earn interest through a funding agreement issued to the custodian bank, are not FDIC insured, and are subject to the financial strength and claims paying ability of Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company. The interest rate earned on the assets allocated to the funding agreement option are declared to the custodian and are guaranteed for at least 12 months from the date the interest rate is declared. There may be different interest rates applicable to different allocations depending upon when the allocation was made to the funding agreement option. The funding agreement option provides the investor with a stable rate of return over time. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company may earn a spread from assets allocated to the funding agreement option available under HSAs.

^7. It is the employee who determines whether to invest funds, and the employee selects those investments from the platform made available through MetLife.

Like most group benefit programs, benefit programs offered by MetLife and its affiliates contain certain exclusions, exceptions, waiting periods, reductions of benefits, limitations and terms for keeping them in force. Nothing in these materials is intended to be, nor should be construed as, advice or a recommendation for a particular situation or individual. Participants should consult with their own advisors for such advice. Federal and state laws and regulations are subject to change.