Benefits Q&A: Can Spouses Have Separate HSA Accounts at the Same Company?

Question:

We have just hired the wife of a current employee. She is enrolling in the high deductible health plan and wants to open an HSA. The husband is already enrolled in employee+child coverage and has his own HSA, to which he has elected to contribute the maximum of $7,300 in 2022.

Can the wife have her own HSA? If so, what is the most that she can contribute?

Answer:

There is a special rule for married individuals providing that if either spouse has family coverage, then both are treated as having that family coverage. If they are both HSA-eligible, then they must divide their contributions equally between them unless they agree on a different allocation. This is true even if one spouse has family HDHP coverage and the other has employee-only HDHP coverage.

This means the combined contribution limit for these employees is the 2022 maximum of $7,300. Note that in 2023, the contribution limit will be $7,750. (This is the largest increase in the contribution limits in recent years.) Note that if the employees are 55 or older, they can each contribute an additional $1,000 annually, which they do not have to split.

If the wife wants to start contributing to an HSA this year, the husband will have to reduce his contributions by the amount she wants to contribute. Another option would be for them to wait until January 2023 and then split their contributions going forward.