A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a great way to save for current and future health expenses.

You can open and contribute to an HSA if you are enrolled in the University's HSA Qualified Health Plan.

You are NOT eligible to contribute to an HSA if:

  • You are covered by Medicare or another nonqualified health plan.
  • You are claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.
  • You are receiving Social Security Income benefits.
  • You or your spouse is enrolled in a General Purpose FSA.
  • You are covered by TRICARE military insurance or have received Veterans Affairs benefits in the last three months.

Contributions are pretax, and your maximum contribution is indexed annually by the IRS. The maximum allowable HSA contributions for 2026 are:

  • individual coverage = $4,400
  • employee plus children/family coverage = $8,750
  • age 55 or older catch-up contribution = $1,000  

In addition to your own contributions, Ball State will contribute to your HSA. Don’t forget to include the University’s contribution when determining your own contribution. The University contribution/seed amounts for 2026 are:

  • individual coverage = $528.84 annually
  • employee plus children/family coverage = $1,322.10 annually 

Remember: To get the University’s contribution, you must:

  • contribute at least 25 percent of the seed amount
  • have an open HSA with HSA Bank
  • Funds can be used tax-free for eligible medical, prescription, dental, and vision expenses.
  • You will get a debit card to use for your eligible expenses once the money is in the account.
  • Your funds earn interest tax-free and can be invested.
  • Your unused funds rollover from year to year.
  • If you lose eligibility to contribute to your HSA, or even leave the university, your HSA funds are still yours to use or take with you.
  • You can change your HSA contribution as often as you like via the Workday benefit enrollment platform.
  • There are no requests for substantiation and no claims forms to submit—just retain receipts and documentation for IRS audit purposes.
  • You may use the funds in your HSA for expenses incurred as far back as when the account was opened (there is no time limit on reimbursing yourself as long as the account was open when the expense was incurred).