2027 HSA Contribution Limits: $4,500 and $9,000

Health savings account limits are announced earlier than most tax numbers. The IRS set the 2027 figures in May 2026, so you already know how much you can save before open enrollment starts. Here is every number that matters for 2026 and 2027, and how to use them.

HSA contribution limits for 2026 and 2027

The limit covers everything that goes into your HSA for the year: your own payroll contributions, money you deposit directly, and anything your employer adds. If your employer puts in $1,000 and you have family coverage in 2027, you can add $8,000 more. The HSA calculator does this math for you.

The age-55 catch-up

If you turn 55 at any point during the year, you can contribute an extra $1,000. Unlike the main limit, the catch-up is written into the law as a flat dollar amount and isn’t adjusted for inflation. For married couples, each spouse who is 55 or older can make a catch-up, but it has to go into that spouse’s own HSA, so a couple who are both 55+ need two accounts to get both.

Partial-year coverage

If you’re only eligible for part of the year, your limit is generally prorated by month: 1/12 of the annual amount for each month you have qualifying coverage on the first day of the month. Under the “last-month rule,” if you are eligible on December 1 you can contribute the full year’s amount, but you then have to stay eligible through the end of the following year or part of it becomes taxable.

Who can contribute: the HDHP rules

You can only contribute to an HSA for months you’re covered by a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) and have no other disqualifying coverage. A plan counts as an HDHP if its deductible is at least the minimum below and its out-of-pocket costs (not counting premiums) are capped at the maximum.

Things that usually make you ineligible: being enrolled in any part of Medicare, being claimed as someone else’s dependent, or having other health coverage that pays before the deductible, including a general-purpose health FSA (yours or your spouse’s).

How much an HSA contribution saves you

HSAs are the only account with a triple tax break: the money goes in before tax, grows tax-free, and comes out tax-free for qualified medical expenses. When you contribute through payroll, you also skip Social Security and Medicare tax, an extra 7.65%.

In other words, a $4,400 contribution often costs you only about $3,000 out of pocket. If you contribute on your own instead of through payroll, you still deduct it on Form 8889, but you lose the FICA savings because that tax was already withheld. California and New Jersey are exceptions on the state side: they tax HSA contributions and earnings.

HSA vs. FSA at open enrollment

If your employer offers both a high-deductible plan with an HSA and a traditional plan with a flexible spending account (FSA), the accounts work very differently.

You generally can’t contribute to an HSA while you or your spouse has a general-purpose FSA. A limited-purpose FSA that only covers dental and vision is the exception, and it’s a good way to save even more pre-tax if your employer offers one. The 2027 FSA limit hasn’t been announced yet; it comes with the IRS’s 2027 tax-year inflation adjustments.

Using an HSA as a retirement account

Most people spend their HSA on this year’s medical bills, which is fine. But if you can afford to pay current costs out of pocket and invest the HSA, it becomes one of the best retirement accounts available. Receipts never expire: you can reimburse yourself years later for any qualified expense you had after opening the HSA. After 65, you can take money out for anything; non-medical withdrawals are taxed like a traditional IRA with no penalty. Before 65, non-medical withdrawals owe income tax plus a 20% penalty.

Maxing out a family HSA at $9,000 a year and earning 6% would grow to about $340,000 in 20 years, all of which can come out tax-free for health care in retirement. A common order of priorities is: get the full 401(k) match, max the HSA, then add more to retirement accounts.