Am I able to use my individual HSA account to cover my wife’s out of pocket medical expenses such as cholesterol medication etc? She has her own ppo health insurance and we both file jointly on our taxes if that matters.
Yeah you can use your HSA to pay for your wife’s qualified medical expenses even if she’s on a different health plan. As long as you’re married and filing jointly, the IRS considers her your tax dependent for HSA purposes
*Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons.*
1. *You and your spouse.*
2. *All dependents you claim on your tax return.*
3. *Any person you could have claimed as a dependent on your return except that:*
1. *The person filed a joint return;*
2. *The person had gross income of $5,050 or more; or*
3. *You, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s 2024 return.*
NOTE: The IRS site hasn’t been updated apparently since 2024, but the same rules apply now.
YakCareless1989 on
Just keep solid records, as always, with your HSA. Alternatively, if you can pay out of your cash flow, you can treat your HSA as more of a retirement account. Paying out-of-pocket & reimbursing yourself later lets you take full advantage of the triple-tax benefit.
Revolutionary-Fan235 on
There’s something that trips many people up and might not apply to you, but I’ll point out just in case it could help someone.
A medical FSA also can be used by either spouse. Contributing to an HSA requires having only HDHP coverage. The FSA covers both spouses regardless of coverage. HSA contributions would be disallowed during the period of FSA coverage.
You could still use the HSA funds for your wife.
Azertygod on
You can! Tho your HSA contribution limit is still individual only (4.4k for 2026) if you don’t have any dependents enrolled with you
5 Comments
Yeah you can use your HSA to pay for your wife’s qualified medical expenses even if she’s on a different health plan. As long as you’re married and filing jointly, the IRS considers her your tax dependent for HSA purposes
From [Pub 969](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p969):
*Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons.*
1. *You and your spouse.*
2. *All dependents you claim on your tax return.*
3. *Any person you could have claimed as a dependent on your return except that:*
1. *The person filed a joint return;*
2. *The person had gross income of $5,050 or more; or*
3. *You, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s 2024 return.*
NOTE: The IRS site hasn’t been updated apparently since 2024, but the same rules apply now.
Just keep solid records, as always, with your HSA. Alternatively, if you can pay out of your cash flow, you can treat your HSA as more of a retirement account. Paying out-of-pocket & reimbursing yourself later lets you take full advantage of the triple-tax benefit.
There’s something that trips many people up and might not apply to you, but I’ll point out just in case it could help someone.
A medical FSA also can be used by either spouse. Contributing to an HSA requires having only HDHP coverage. The FSA covers both spouses regardless of coverage. HSA contributions would be disallowed during the period of FSA coverage.
You could still use the HSA funds for your wife.
You can! Tho your HSA contribution limit is still individual only (4.4k for 2026) if you don’t have any dependents enrolled with you