Health Savings Account

HSA Eligibility Rules

Consumer Choice participants who meet IRS eligibility requirements can open an HSA.

You own your HSA. The money in your account is yours to keep, even if you change employers, change health plans, or retire.

To open an HSA, make sure you are:

• A Consumer Choice participant
• Not covered by any other non-Consumer Driven Health Plan (CHDP)
• Not enrolled in Medicare or TRICARE
• Not claimed as a dependent on another individual’s tax return
• Make sure your spouse does not participate in a Health Care Spending Account.

For additional information, see IRS Publication 969 at IRS.gov.

Note: An HSA, administered by Optum Financial™, is automatically opened on your behalf when you elect Consumer Choice and indicate that you are HSA eligible on the ADP benefits enrollment website. You can access your Optum HSA account at optumbank.com.

Triple Tax Advantages

HSAs offer unique tax-advantages to help you save money:

1. You can make tax-free contributions
2. You can grow your funds tax free through interest or investments if your account balance is $2,000 or more
3. You can spend funds tax free on qualified medical expenses

Additional Key Benefits of an HSA

• You can sign up for pretax payroll deductions to make tax-free contributions to your HSA. (Personal contributions are not required to receive the employer contribution.)
• Eligible ORNL employees additionally benefit from Company contributions to HSAs.
• There are no use-or-lose rules. The funds in your HSA roll over each year and are yours to keep, even if you change health plans, change jobs, or retire.
• You can save or invest any unused funds and earn tax-free interest.

Employee HSA Elections

Your election defaults to $0 on January 1 each calendar year, so you must re-elect your contribution amount during Open Enrollment if you want contributions to start again the following January.

HSA elections can be changed any time during the year without a qualifying life event. The change will be effective on the first day of the month after the election is made. You must contact the ADP Benefits Service Center to make HSA changes.

Annual Contribution Limits

For 2026, you can contribute a maximum of $4,400 for Employee Only and $8,750 for all other coverage levels to your HSA.

ORNL contributes $500 for Employee Only, and $1,000 for all other coverage levels. ORNL’s contribution is prorated 50% if your UHC effective date is on or after July 1.

This maximum includes ORNL’s contribution as well as your own.

Note: If you are 55 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000 to your HSA.

You can spend your HSA funds on qualified medical expenses for yourself and any tax dependents, even those not covered on your health plan.

Use your HSA funds on qualified medical expenses for:

• You and your spouse
• All dependents you claim on your tax return

HSA Resources

For more information and helpful advice for using your HSA, watch the following videos:

• Using an HSA
• Tax Time and Your HSA
• Five Stages of Health Saving and Spending

You can also visit the Optum Bank Academy for HSA and FSA Webinars.