Even people who have followed personal finance for a while confuse them with the
more popular health care flexible spending account, which — unlike an H. S.A.
— does not allow you to invest the money and spend decades watching the earnings compound.
Grants or tax credits would land directly in individual accounts, and people would use the money to purchase insurance.
It wins the complexity award, in that it combines Roth I. R.A.s (which people already have trouble distinguishing from their regular I. R.A.
cousins) and H. S.A.s (confusing on their own) into a whole new thing called Roth H. S.A.s.
But there’s one thing they do know for sure: They want a whole lot more of us to have health savings accounts.
Finally, you pay no taxes when the money comes out, as long as you use it on a long list of health expenditures.
There’s a great deal to like about these accounts, which you can open
and contribute to only if you are enrolled in a health insurance plan that has a pretty high deductible.
