AJ, are you saying that you are currently using HSA to pay your COBRA premiums, but you are paying out-of-pocket for any 2022 medical expenses?
No, I’m not currently using my HSA to pay COBRA premiums, or any medical expenses. I’m paying everything out of pocket, and saving documentation of what I’m paying, so I can withdraw those eligible expenses later. That’s one of the nice things about HSAs - if you can afford to pay any/all eligible expenses out of pocket, by saving the documentation, you can pull money out tax-free for those expenses in later years. The eligible expense just has to occur after you’ve had an HSA open and funded.
Then, starting in 2023 you will use HSA to get reimbursement for those 2022 expenses to offset paying out-of-pocket for insurance?
I may. I expect the insurance from my retiree benefits to be more expensive than the COBRA I’m on, since I’m on COBRA from my partner’s insurance, not my old insurance. The additional expense will be an add to my spending, so rather than pulling that additional spending from sources that would be taxed, I may pull some from the HSA - it’s one option. But I won’t know how much of an add to my spending it will be until I find out what the 2023 premiums will be for my retiree insurance, so that’s a decision for next year.
AJ