5-inflation
The Internal Revenue Service says important numbers at the heart of personal health benefit account programs will rise by about 2% to 3% in 2027.
The IRS announced the new, inflation-adjusted parameters for health savings accounts and some health reimbursement arrangements in Revenue Procedure 2026-24.
For individual contributions to HSAs, for example, the annual contribution limit will increase to $4,500, from $4,400, and the minimum deductible will increase to $1,750, from $1,700.
For some types of health reimbursement arrangements, the maximum employer contribution will increase to $2,250, from $2,200.
The IRS calculates the health account inflation adjustments based on a formula given in Internal Revenue Code section (1)(c)(3), which ties the adjustments to changes in a specific government inflation rate, the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
The overall C-CPI-U index increased just 2.19% during the 12-month period that ended in January, but the medical care component increased 2.77%.
What it means: Workers who contribute the maximum amount to HSAs or HRAs every year may feel as if they have to push harder to keep up with increases in health care costs.
Health account parameter basics: Taxpayers can use both HSAs and HRAs to save money for health care expenses without paying federal income taxes on eligible contributions or cash spent on "qualified" expenses.
Workers who contribute to HSAs own any cash that they or their employers contribute to the HSAs. They can invest the assets and keep any investment earnings.
The tradeoff is that they must combine HSAs with high-deductible health plans that have deductibles over a minimum level and annual out-of-pocket spending maximums for covered, in-network care under a specified limit.
The kinds of HRAs covered by the new parameters announcement are accounts used to pay for excepted benefits, such as dental care, rather than the kinds of HRAs used to create alternatives to traditional major medical coverage.
HRA users can combine their HRAs with major medical plans with low deductibles or no deductibles, but they do not own the account value.
The parameters: The increases in the health account parameters in 2027 will be similar to the increases that occurred this year.
Here's what will happen to the parameters in 2027:
2027 | 2026 | |
| HSA: Individual | ||
| Contribution limit | $4,500 | $4,400 |
| Minimum deductible | $1,750 | $1,700 |
| Annual OOP maximum | $8,700 | $8,500 |
| HSA: Family | ||
| Contribution limit | $9,000 | $8,750 |
| Minimum deductible | $3,500 | $3,400 |
| Annual OOP maximum | $17,400 | $17,000 |
| Maximum employer excepted benefit HRA contribution | $2,250 | $2,200 |
A direct primary care practice promises to handle checkups, ordinary sick care and management of many common chronic conditions in exchange for monthly, quarterly or annual membership fees.
A provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 lets HSA holders use HSA cash to pay DPC membership fees.
The OBBBA provision means that a taxpayer with an HSA and an HSA-compatible high-deductible health plan can now use a DPC arrangement to eliminate worries about getting big, unpredictable, pre-deductible bills for ordinary health care.
An HSA owner's DPC spending limits for 2027 will be the figures included in the OBBBA statute: $150 for an individual and $300 for a family.
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