The tax benefits of a health savings account are unmatched—better than a 401(k), traditional IRA, Roth IRA or 529 savings plan. It can be used to pay for medical bills like a checking account, it can be used as an investment account to top up future healthcare bills, or both.
An HSA is a savings account that allows you to use your pretax income to pay for your health care. To qualify for an HSA, you must have a high deductible health plan (HDHP). For the 2021 and 2022 plans, the minimum deductible is $1,400 for individuals and $2,800 for families.
When buying an HSA, it’s important to consider account fees, investment options, minimum balance requirements, account accessibility, interest rates, and customer service. Depending on how you use your HSA, some account features are more important to you than others.
To help you with your search, Bankrate has compiled a list of the best HSA accounts for 2022. To narrow down our choices, we compared more than a dozen top HSA providers for fees, balance requirements, investment options, interest rates, and account accessibility.
- Best HSA Accounts of 2022
- Best Overall: Lively.
- Best Investment Opportunity: Fidelity Investments.
- Best for short-term spending: HealthEquity.
- Best for Low Expenses: Lively.
- Best HSA from a traditional bank: Bank of America.
Best HSA Overall: Lively
Lively is recognized as a personal best overall HSA mainly because it has no fees and no hidden fees to drain your savings. Additionally, clients have access to many commission-free online investments through TD Ameritrade’s self-brokered account. Another investment option is Devenir’s Managed Portfolio, which has an annual fee of 0.5% but no minimum cash investment.
Like many HSAs, the Lively HSA comes with a free debit card to pay for health care. It also offers online banking and mobile apps that allow you to track and manage your accounts from anywhere. The site is easy to navigate and features HSA guidelines and many informative articles, calculators, and videos. Cash balances in Lively HSAs are FDIC insured and earn interest. The annual rate of return is only 0.01%, but the interest rate is so low that it hardly matters when choosing an HSA. Lively also provides simplified HSA administration for employers.
Best Investment Opportunity: Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments offers many low-cost HSA investment options with no account fees and no minimum account opening requirements. You can invest in stocks, bonds, ETFs, CDs, mutual funds and other options. Trading U.S. stocks and ETFs online is commission-free, but certain investments may incur fees. Fidelity also has fund options available only to Fidelity HSA customers. Account holders can manage their own investments, choose a managed account, or open both an autonomous HSA (Fidelity HSA) and a managed HSA (Fidelity Go HSA).
Accessing HSA funds and paying medical bills is easy with the Fidelity HSA. Customers receive a debit card and online bill payment, or they can be reimbursed for what they paid by transferring money from the HSA to their personal bank account. Fidelity also provides calculators, tools and market research to help you monitor and manage your account.
Best for short-term spending: HealthEquity
HealthEquity is a bank-independent HSA custodian and one of the largest HSA providers. This is a good option for customers who need to use an HSA to pay for their medical bills on a regular basis because there are multiple ways to spend and track accounts. Account holders can access their funds using a debit card, write checks, online banking or mobile apps. Using the HealthEquity mobile app, you can send payments and reimbursements, view claim status, take pictures with your device to initiate claims and payments, and associate debit card transactions with claims and records. There are no monthly account fees, but there are other fees, including a $25 account closure fee. So be sure to ask for the full fee schedule before registering.
Headquartered in Draper, Utah, HealthEquity also offers 24/7 customer support via phone or live chat. HealthEquity savers earn some interest based on account balance levels, although these rates are not published on the website. Depositors are federal borders insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Best for Low Fees: Lively
Lively has a long list of fees it doesn’t charge, which should prompt HSA buyers to take a good look at the provider. Lively customers do not pay any fees for monthly account maintenance, opening or closing accounts, transferring funds, holding up to three HSA debit cards, or making excess HSA contributions. There are also no minimum balance or refund fees or any fees for TD Ameritrade’s self-managed brokerage account, which offers commission-free stocks, ETFs, and other investment options. Investors who choose Devenir-managed portfolios pay 0.5% annually. Lively charges enterprise customers $2.95 per registered employee per month.
Lively is praised for transparent pricing. Some HSA providers have difficulty finding interest rates and other account details on their websites, forcing people to call or email for information. Lively’s website is easy to understand, with detailed information at a glance.
Best HSA from a traditional bank: Bank of America
Many people appreciate the convenience of managing all their finances at one bank. Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States, with 4,300 branches and approximately 17,000 ATMs, combining broad physical access with a suite of digital and online tools. This is a great option for people who prefer to have a bank branch nearby rather than doing everything online.
You can submit claims and monitor your HSA through the Bank of America membership website or the MyHealth BofA mobile app. The HSA comes with a Visa debit card with no transaction fees, a savings calculator, and 24/7 customer support via phone or online chat. The bank also provides advice and training on aligning financial strategies with health and wellness goals. Savers can earn up to 0.07% APR, depending on their balance, and investors can choose from dozens of mutual funds from Merrill Lynch, a subsidiary of Bank of America. The minimum balance to invest is $1,000 and the monthly standard account fee is $2.50 (waived if the HSA is done through your employer). Bank of America doesn’t charge transaction fees for buying and selling investments, but mutual funds do have internal costs. Bank of America is also an HSA custodian for companies large and small.
How to choose the best HSA
There are some benefits to opening an HSA through your employer. With an employer-provided HSA, you can reduce your Social Security taxes and your business can contribute to your account. “In some cases, employer plans can get better prices, but maybe you can’t get them for free yourself,” said Eric Remjeske, founder and president of Devenir, a Minneapolis-based HSA investment advisor and research firm. HSA buyers may find Devenir’s HSASearch tool helpful.
When choosing an HSA, keep the following points in mind.
Decide how you will use the account. Knowing how you want to use your HSA, whether for immediate and short-term medical expenses or as an investment account for future health care expenses, can help narrow down your options.
Pay attention to fees. Always ask for a full fee schedule before making a decision, as HSA fees vary by provider. Maintenance fees, investment fees, paper statement fees, and per-transaction fees may apply. Some HSAs charge fees for opening an account, obtaining, replacing or renewing a debit card, or transferring funds from a savings account to an investment account. HSAs may also charge fees for overdrafts or insufficient funds.
Check the minimum balance. Some HSA administrators waive fees when accounts reach balance thresholds. Ask if the fee waiver is based on a minimum savings balance or a savings and investment balance. Ask if a minimum balance is required to invest in an HSA. The minimum balance requirement for an investment is usually between $500 and $3,000.
Compare rates. Similar to a traditional savings account, an HSA offers the opportunity to earn interest. However, in the current interest rate environment, interest is not as important as fees, which can easily eat up interest income. But for savers planning to keep their HSAs as spending accounts, interest rates are a concern.
Make sure HSA funding is easily accessible. When health bills come up, you need to be able to use your HSA funds to pay them. Find out if your HSA comes with a debit card, online bill pay, or a check. Find out, for example, how easy it is to transfer funds from an account to your personal checking account.
Ensure that investment opportunities are diverse and robust. Some HSAs provide opportunities for investment and growth capital. HSA custodians offer a variety of mutual funds, stocks, bonds and other investment products. Look for investment options with low fees and no balance thresholds you need to meet before investing. Look for a variety of well-performing investment opportunities. Remember, stocks, bonds, and other investments are not federally insured.
Depositors choose federal insurance agencies. If you plan to keep your HSA in a spending account, make sure the bank or credit union of your choice is licensed by the FDIC. Or the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. If your financial institution fails, you will be protected up to $250,000.
Rate customer service. Make sure your bank, credit union, or HSA custodian answers all your questions and tells you everything you need to make an informed decision. Learn about customer service hours and tools to track and manage your account, such as mobile apps. Some financial institutions are better at providing instructional videos and articles online. If you prefer a personal experience, check with branch locations and hours of operation.
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