{
  "id": "RS21573",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS21573",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": 425554,
      "date": "2013-11-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:14:10.599697",
      "title": "Tax-Advantaged Accounts for Health Care Expenses: Side-by-Side Comparison, 2013",
      "summary": "Four types of tax-advantaged accounts can be used to pay for unreimbursed qualifying medical expenses: health care flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement accounts (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and medical savings accounts (MSAs). Qualifying unreimbursed medical expenses are defined in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and typically include deductibles, copayments, and goods and/or services not covered by insurance. The goods and/or services can include medical services rendered by physicians, surgeons, dentists, and other medical practitioners. The costs of equipment, supplies, diagnostic devices, and prescription drugs are also qualifying medical expenses.\nAlthough these four tax-advantaged health accounts share some common features, they also differ in important respects. This report provides brief summaries of the tax-exempt accounts and compares them with respect to eligibility, contribution limits, use of funds, and other characteristics for tax year 2013. A basic discussion of the four accounts is followed by a side-by-side comparison of their key features. The accounts can be summarized as follows, where all accounts reimburse qualifying medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance.\nFSAs are employer-established accounts that reimburse employees for qualifying expenses. They are usually funded through salary reduction agreements under which employees receive lower monetary wages in exchange for equivalent contributions to their FSAs.\nHRAs are employer-established arrangements that reimburse employees for qualifying expenses. Contributions cannot be made through the employees\u2019 salary reduction agreements; only employers may contribute. Health reimbursement accounts and health reimbursement arrangements are synonyms.\nHSAs are savings accounts that the account holders use to pay for qualifying expenses. They are established by individuals who must hold high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) in order to establish or contribute to the HSA. Contributions to the accounts can be made by any individual or firm.\nMSAs are accounts that the account holders use to pay for qualifying expenses. They were established by individuals who held high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) in order to establish or contribute to the MSA. Individuals generally cannot open MSAs after December 31, 2007, but those who had accounts by this date may maintain them. MSA eligibility was limited to people who were self-employed or employed by an employer with fewer than 50 employees. Contributions may be made by the employer or account holder, but not both in the same year.\nThe report concludes with a brief discussion of the usage in these four accounts. Comparing usage is difficult because no single data source contains comparable information on all four accounts and the years of data availability differ across data source. In broad terms, 40% of all civilian workers in 2012 had access to a health care flexible spending account. Of those private firms offering health benefits in 2012, 26% offered an HSA-qualified HDHP.",
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": "RS21573_2013Oct18",
      "date": "2013-10-18",
      "retrieved": "2013-11-05T18:07:05",
      "title": "Tax-Advantaged Accounts for Health Care Expenses: Side-by-Side Comparison, 2013",
      "summary": "This report provides brief summaries of the tax-exempt accounts and compares them with respect to eligibility, contribution limits, use of funds, and other characteristics for tax year 2013. The report concludes with a brief discussion of the usage in these four accounts.",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc809735/",
      "id": "RS21573_2010Jun18",
      "date": "2010-06-18",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
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      "id": "RS21573_2009Mar26",
      "date": "2009-03-26",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Tax-Advantaged Accounts for Health Care Expenses: Side-by-Side Comparison",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818624/",
      "id": "RS21573_2008Feb04",
      "date": "2008-02-04",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Tax-Advantaged Accounts for Health Care Expenses: Side-by-Side Comparison",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818408/",
      "id": "RS21573_2007Mar21",
      "date": "2007-03-21",
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      "id": "RS21573_2004Aug10",
      "date": "2004-08-10",
      "retrieved": "2016-08-07T13:31:21",
      "title": "Tax-Advantaged Accounts for Health Care Expenses: Side-by-Side Comparison",
      "summary": "This report provides brief summaries and background information about four accounts related to medical expenses: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs).  It also compares them with respect to characteristics such as eligibility, contribution limits, and use of funds.",
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