If either you or your spouse has family coverage, both of you are treated as having family coverage. And if either of you has family coverage under separate plans, each of you is treated as having family coverage under the plan with the lower deductible. This limit must be reduced by any amounts contributed to both spouses’ Archer MSAs, if applicable. The remaining amount is then allocated between you. If either or both of you are age 55 or older and not enrolled in Medicare, you can add the additional contribution amount for being 55 or older to your allocable portions of the family deductible limit to determine your individual maximum contribution limits.
For example, assuming the following:
You and your spouse both have family coverage under separate high deductible health care plans.
You are age 57 and your spouse is age 52.
The annual deductible under your plan if $3,000, and the deductible under your spouse’s plan is $2,000.
You are both treated as being covered by the $2,000 deductible plan. If you split the deductible evenly, you can contribute $1,500 to your HSA (half of $2,000 plus $500 additional contribution for being 55 or older (the $500 is subject to change each year), and your spouse can contribute up to $1,000 (half the deductible).
Embedded Deductibles
In a high deductible health care plans with family coverage, there may be a deductible for the family as a whole (referred to as the umbrella deductible) and a deductible for each family member (referred to as the embedded deductible). In this case, the limit on your contribution to your HSA is the least of the following amounts:
The maximum annual contribution limit (defined by the IRS),
The umbrella deductible, or
The embedded deductible times the number of family members covered under the plan.
But, the health care plan will not qualify as a high deductible plan (and therefore you will not qualify for an HSA) if either the umbrella deductible or the embedded deductible is less than the minimum annual deductible required for family coverage under a high deductible plan. If no umbrella deductible is defined, the maximum amount for the total of the deductible plus out-of-pocket expenses for family coverage applies. The deductible for each family member times the number of family members covered cannot exceed this maximum amount.