My spouse has BCBS, and it covers a lot. I chose a high-deductible plan from my job this year so I could get an HSA, thinking BCBS was my primary insurance. But they just reprocessed all my claims for the whole year, and now I owe for all of them. Is that really something that can happen?
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Why did you assume your spouse’s BCBS was your primary insurance? Typically, your own insurance is primary, and your spouse’s is secondary. Also, I’m not a tax expert, but I don’t think you can contribute to an HSA if you have a non-HDHP as a secondary plan.
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I agree with both points. Contact each doctor you visited this year and provide your correct insurance details your plan as primary and your spouse’s as secondary. Ask them to resubmit your claims.
Also, reach out to both insurance companies to complete the coordination of benefits process. They need to be aware of each other.
As for the HSA, you likely can’t have it along with secondary insurance. Not sure how to fix that.
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Yes, your own insurance is primary and you can’t contribute to an HSA if your spouse has a non-HDHP plan.
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BCBS is not your primary insurance. your employer’s plan is. You don’t get to choose which plan is primary, so you made a significant mistake here.
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Okay, so you need to reach out to every provider and have them rerun your claims through your insurance. You also need to correct the improper HSA contributions and pay a penalty on what you’ve spent from it this year.
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Why are the HSA contributions illegal?
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It’s illegal under tax code, but it won’t land you in jail. She was technically committing fraud by having an HSA when she wasn’t eligible, so all her contributions and expenditures from the account will be taxed. This is similar to over-contributing to an IRA or mistakenly claiming a tax deduction you’re not eligible for.
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You have a high deductible plan through your employer, so the HSA contributions should come from your paycheck for this plan, covering only your expenses.
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Yes, that’s true, but I don’t think I’m eligible for an HSA because I have secondary insurance that isn’t a high deductible plan.
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However, if your employer is deducting contributions from your paycheck, it might have been their responsibility to verify that you didn’t have secondary coverage. Either they asked you, and you mistakenly said you didn’t, or they messed up and didn’t ask at all.
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I don’t think they ever asked unless there was some fine print I missed or agreed to
Thanks all - I feel pretty stupid about this but at least glad I figured it out before the end of the year I guess.