This fall during open enrollment you may have seen your employer state that the deductible for your high deductible health plan was going to increase “in accordance with 2024 IRS requirements”. What does that mean, and how does it impact you?

While the words to describe this type of health insurance plan are simply “high deductible health plan”, this doesn’t mean that every health plan with what feels like a huge deductible qualifies for this name. There’s a federal definition, with a minimum deductible dollar amount that’s defined each year. And only if it meets this definition is it allowed to be paired with Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions.

So what are those 2024 definitions?

… a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,600 for self-only coverage or $3,200 for family coverage, and for which the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $8,050 for self-only coverage or $16,100 for family coverage.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-23-23.pdf

That’s up from 2023 numbers of $1500/$3000, with annual out-of-pocket expenses capped at $7,500/$15,000.

Does that seem like a lot? Make sure you come back tomorrow for my article about inflation and is your raise really a pay cut in disguise.