IRS expands HSA benefits for chronic conditions

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The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C.

The Treasury Department has expanded the preventive care benefits that can be provided by high-deductible health plans to include a range of chronic conditions.

Notice 2019-45 lists the new types of medical care that can be treated as preventive care for this purpose.

Taxpayers covered by a high-deductible plan can usually deduct their contributions to a health savings account as long as they have no disqualifying health coverage. To qualify as a high-deductible health plan, a plan should only provide benefits for any year after the minimum deductible for that year is satisfied. However, a high-deductible plan is not required to have a deductible for preventive care (as defined for the purposes of the HDHP/HSA rules).

The expanded list of preventive care benefits that can be provided by a high-deductible plan covers medical care services and prescription drugs for certain chronic conditions (see the list below).

Medical care that was previously recognized as preventive care for these rules is still treated as such.

The new preventive care benefits high-deductible plans can provide are:

Preventive care
For individuals diagnosed with:
ACE inhibitors
Congestive heart failure, diabetes, and/or coronary artery disease
Anti-resorptive therapy
Osteoporosis and/or osteopenia
Beta-blockers
Congestive heart failure and/or coronary artery disease
Blood pressure monitor
Hypertension
Inhaled corticosteroids
Asthma
Insulin and other glucose lowering agents
Diabetes
Retinopathy screening
Diabetes
Peak flow meter
Asthma
Glucometer
Diabetes
Hemoglobin A1c testing
Diabetes
International normalized ratio (INR) testing
Liver disease and/or bleeding disorders
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) testing
Heart disease
Selective serotonin re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
Depression
Statins
Heart disease and/or diabetes
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