Can I use my HSA for my spouse?

If you are married, you will be able to use your HSA to pay for a spouse’s medical expenses.

Here are a few key rules:

Your spouse does not need to be covered on your High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).

While the amount you can contribute to your HSA is determined by whether you have single-only or family coverage, there are no limitations on using money in your HSA to pay for a spouse’s unreimbursed medical expenses.

If your spouse has other health insurance coverage you can still make tax-free withdrawals from your HSA to cover that spouse’s qualified medical expenses, as long as your spouse was not reimbursed by his/her insurance policy.

You can use money saved before you were married to pay for current medical expenses of your spouse.

You can’t use your HSA to pay for a spouse’s medical expenses that occurred before you were married.

But once you are married you can use money in your HSA to cover current medical expenses of a spouse, even if your HSA contributions occurred prior to your marriage. For example, let’s say you have been saving in an HSA since 2015, and were married in August 2019. The entire balance of your HSA can be used to pay for medical expenses your spouse incurred after your August 2019 marriage.

Your spouse does not need to be covered by your HDHP for you to be able to make tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.