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A summary of the articles included in the August 2026 edition:
- HSA Deposit Rate Update – June 2026
- Optum Financial Expands Consumer Healthcare Financing Capabilities With Acquisition of Alegeus Technologies
- Fidelity Investments® Shares 25th Annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, Highlighting the Importance of Incorporating Potential Health Expenses in Retirement Planning
- Why Some Advisors Prefer HSAs Over IRAs For Retirement Savings
- Most HSA Holders Use Accounts for Current Expenses Rather Than Long-Term Saving
- What Are the Prospects for Health Savings Account Expansion in This Congress?
HSA Deposit Rate Update – June 2026
HSA deposit rates remained steady across balance tiers in the second quarter of 2026. The $1,000 balance tier remained at 0.45%, the $10,000 tier at 0.55%, and the $25,000 tier at 0.60%. The $1,000 tier was unchanged for the first time since March 2025. Rates at the $10,000 and $25,000 tiers have remained unchanged since September 2025. Overall, rates remain broadly in step with the Fed.
The Fed left its target range unchanged through the first half of 2026. At the end of the second quarter, the Effective Federal Funds Rate (EFFR) sat at 3.63%, which is still lower than the long-term average of 4.60%. Even so, the rate remained above where it stood before the Fed’s most recent rate-hiking cycle. Earlier in the year, the outlook called for the Fed to make additional rate cuts in 2026, following cuts in each of the two previous years. However, due to recent elevated inflation data, CME FedWatch showed markets largely expecting the Fed to hold rates steady or possibly even move rates higher. If this happens, we could see HSA deposit rates follow a similar path.
Optum Financial Expands Consumer Healthcare Financing Capabilities With Acquisition of Alegeus Technologies
Optum closed the acquisition of Alegeus Technologies, a leading healthcare technology platform that provides benefits administration for consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) accounts, including health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and COBRA.
The acquisition supports Optum’s mission to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone by expanding capabilities that help consumers access, manage and pay for healthcare.
Healthcare costs and consumer expectations continue to evolve, and more people are seeking flexible, transparent ways to manage their healthcare dollars. Together, Optum Financial and Alegeus will simplify how consumers save, access, invest and finance healthcare expenses, helping make healthcare easier to navigate while supporting affordability and informed decision-making.
“Healthcare financing plays an increasingly important role in helping people access and pay for care,” said Aline Schellhas, CEO, Optum Financial. “This acquisition reflects our disciplined approach to portfolio expansion, focused on making it easier for consumers to navigate healthcare. We are excited to welcome the talented Alegeus team and their proven capabilities as we continue investing in solutions that help people manage healthcare with confidence.”
Fidelity Investments® Shares 25th Annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, Highlighting the Importance of Incorporating Potential Health Expenses in Retirement Planning
Fidelity Investments® released its 25th annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, revealing a 65-year-old retiring in 2026 can expect to spend an average of $185,500 on health care and medical expenses throughout retirement. Up 7.5% from one year ago, the increase reinforces broader health care market trends, including rising prices for care, continued utilization growth, and growing costs tied to chronic conditions.
Despite the rise, this year’s estimate comes on the heels of positive news, as recent Fidelity research finds Americans’ retirement confidence is trending up: 72% say they will retire on their own terms, and nearly 3-in-4 say they have a plan in place to reach their retirement goals. This confidence is driven in part by awareness and preparation. The vast majority (81%) understand health care costs in retirement to be high, and one-quarter (26%) identify health care costs as a top retirement savings challenge.
Why Some Advisors Prefer HSAs Over IRAs For Retirement Savings
Some clients might be better off stocking a health savings account to the gills and leaving it relatively untouched — not even using it to buy so much as a box of Band-Aids — according to some financial advisors.
Since HSAs launched just over 20 years ago, many advisors have started recommending a strategy of using the accounts as another form of retirement account, particularly for health care expenses but even for unrelated expenses. Once in retirement, there is no penalty for spending HSA funds on non-medical expenses. There would only be taxes due, as with distributions from a traditional individual retirement account.
At face value, HSAs seem to be for short-term or medium-term medical expenses — a way to take on those bills with untaxed dollars. But according to this strategy, it would be better to pay for medical expenses out of pocket to maximize funds in the HSA for investing and tax-free growth.
Most HSA Holders Use Accounts for Current Expenses Rather Than Long-Term Saving
Health savings accounts (HSAs) offer a triple tax advantage, allowing individuals to save funds to be used for medical expenses in the present or to invest them to be allocated toward medical expenses in the future. This Fast Fact delves into HSA usage as reported in the 2025 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, examining why accountholders open HSAs and what they do with the funds they accrue.
What Are the Prospects for Health Savings Account Expansion in This Congress?
Will we see legislation to increase access to Health Savings Accounts, as we did in 2025?
Last year’s One Big, Beautiful Bill added three important provisions to Health Savings Accounts, as we discussed in last week’s installment. They were:
- Creating a permanent safe harbor to allow insurers and employers to cover all telemedicine visits below the deductible (no or lower patient financial responsibility).
- Permitting patients in a direct-primary care arrangement to remain HSA-eligible and to pay their fees tax-free from a Health Savings Account, provided that the DPC arrangement did not charge a fee greater than $150 per patient or $300 per family.
- Defining Bronze and Catastrophic plans sold through government-facilitated marketplaces as HSA-qualified plans, whether they are purchased through public marketplaces or other nongroup markets.
Will we see more provisions added? Last week, we reviewed the priorities of leaders in the Health Savings Account industry. This week, we look at the prospects of legislative action.