Bend FAQs

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a special type of savings account that lets you put aside pre-tax money to pay for qualified medical expenses now or in the future. Some of these expenses include copays or deductibles for doctor visits, prescription medications and more. Download a complete list of these qualified medical expenses (reference IRS Section 213d). By allowing you to save pre-tax money, an HSA helps you keep more of your hard-earned money and lower your overall healthcare costs.

For more details, visit our What is an HSA page.

Both an HSA and an FSA let you save pre-tax money for qualified medical expenses. But that’s where the similarities end. The eligibility requirements for these accounts and the annual contributions you can make are different for each. Perhaps the most talked about difference between these accounts is that the money you invest in an HSA does not expire at the end of the year. It can continue to grow and is yours to keep. With an FSA, you may have to forfeit your unused funds after the plan year ends or if you terminate with your employer.

Yes. You need to have an HSA-eligible High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). These types of health plans will be identified by your health insurance carrier or your employer. In 2018, health plans with a deductible of at least $1,350 for individuals and $2,700 for families typically qualify. The annual out-of-pocket expenses for an individual can’t be more than $6,650 or $13,300 for family coverage. For 2019 plans, the annual out-of-pocket expenses for an individual can’t be more than $6,750 or $13,500 for family coverage. Self-employed individuals who are covered under a qualified plan may also contribute.

You are not eligible for an HSA if you are covered by your spouse’s health insurance plan that is not a qualified HDHP. You are also not eligible for an HSA if you are claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return or if you are enrolled in Medicare. However, if you already have an HSA and are enrolled in Medicare, you can continue to use your HSA funds for eligible medical expenses, but you cannot make new HSA contributions or open a new HSA.

Once you have an HSA and have contributed to it, you can spend it on qualified healthcare expense, regardless of the type of health care coverage you have.

An HSA does more than just let you save pre-tax dollars to pay for qualified medical expenses. It can play a pivotal part in your long-term financial wellness. For starters, an HSA offers you numerous tax advantages. Your HSA contributions are not taxed and your funds are able to grow tax-free. Plus, all your withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are also free of any taxes.

You can also invest your HSA balance in mutual funds, just like a 401(k), and the money that you earn from these investments is tax-free. Your funds can continue to grow year after year and be used to pay for healthcare expenses incurred after the date you opened the account, as long as you have not already claimed them as a deduction.

Finally, you can take comfort knowing you’ll always have access to the money in your HSA—even if you switch jobs or decide to leave the workforce. Plus, after age 65, you can withdraw funds from your HSA for non-qualified expenses without penalty, although you will pay ordinary income tax on that withdrawal. There are no taxes, whatsoever, if you withdraw for eligible medical expenses.

Your Bend HSA can be combined with a Limited Purpose Flexible Spending Account (LPFSA) and/or a Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA). An LPFSA can be used to pay for eligible out-of-pocket dental or vision expenses, while a DCFSA can be used to pay for eligible dependent care services, such as preschool, summer day camp, before or after school programs and child or adult daycare. You can also roll your other HSA accounts into your Bend HSA. Go into Bend, select Resources. On the Forms tab, download the “HSA Trustee Transfer to UMB from Other Trustee” form and follow the directions on the form.

Bend makes contributing to your HSA easy. If and when you have an eligible expense, you can easily update your payroll contribution amount in Bend for a one-time contribution or ongoing contributions. Bend also helps you proactively identify eligible expenses by letting you link up your personal credit or debit cards. Bend will look for potentially eligible expenses from your transaction history.

The government determines how much you are allowed to contribute to your Bend HSA each year. For 2018, individuals could contribute a maximum of $3,450 and families could contribute $6,900. For 2019, individuals can contribute a maximum of $3,500 and families could contribute $7,000. If you are age 55 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000 — which is considered a “catch-up” contribution allowing you to “catch up” on your savings.

Yes, that’s one of the advantages of having an HSA. The money in your account is yours. You can retain your Bend HSA as long as you want. You may also choose to transfer some or all of your HSA funds to another HSA at any time. There is a $15 fee associated with this transfer.

Yes. Any amount in excess of the $1,000 cash balance reserve amount can be invested. Bend allows you to invest your funds into stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Simply access your investment account and complete the simple setup. Investment access is provided by our partner custodian bank, UMB Bank. Invested funds are not FDIC insured and may lose value, and they have no bank guarantee.

The money in your Bend HSA is yours regardless of whether you are working or not. Having a Bend HSA is a smart way to ensure that you have ample funds on hand to pay for even non-medical expenses long into your retirement.

All funds contributed to your HSA are tax exempt, and when you contribute through payroll, you also save on payroll taxes. As you fund your Bend HSA, and as we help you find all of your healthcare eligible expenses, every dollar you spend on those eligible expenses keeps that money from being taxed. Furthermore, as you save and invest money in your HSA, any earnings on that money will also be tax free. For example, if you pay 25% taxes on your earnings, you would have to earn $1,000 to pay for a $750 doctor’s visit. If you spend out of your HSA, $750 of your earnings cover the expense, while the other $250 can go into your pocket. Better yet, you can put that $250 in your HSA, invest it and have it earn more money tax free. With Bend, we make finding those expense and taking advantage of your HSA seamless and simple, potentially saving you thousands of dollars through your working years and into retirement.

[downloadable document PDF here]

You can still use your HSA, but you can no longer contribute to your HSA.

Bend starts by being designed and delivered with an excellent user experience in mind, making it easy for customers to interact and engage with their HSA account. Bend’s HSA allows customers to start their HSA without needing to become experts, and through its Bend Advisor will deliver timely and unique advice to help consumers maximize their HSA with ease. The Bend Advisor also goes beyond the HSA and engages customers to help them achieve financial wellness.

The Bend Advisor learns about the unique situation of each customer and provides actionable advice to the customer so they can easily maximize their tax savings, spend more wisely, save and grow their accounts and achieve financial wellness.

It’s simple. You open your HSA with Bend by following our few simple steps online.

Once your account is setup, you link your personal bank account to make reimbursement easy. You can also link any personal credit or debit cards you use to make health care purchases.

That’s it. From there, The Bend Advisor will identify potentially eligible expenses for you and offer to update your payroll deduction for you, or offer to send you a reimbursement from your HSA, etc. The Bend Advisor will learn about you the more you use it and will guide you to help you achieve those goals.

Bend’s mission is to relentlessly look for ways to make health savings accounts better. We will revolutionize HSAs by implementing innovative and disruptive solutions that simplify the user experience, organize information and guide participants on how to best use their HSA. We enable individuals to more effectively contribute, grow, and use tax-free funds for qualified medical expenses, and simplify the plan administrators experience with an HSA.