Hello and welcome to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for a Richer Life.

I'm your host Laura Adams. In today's episode I'm going to discuss how to pay for

medical expenses and save for retirement using a taxed advantaged health

savings account.

Health savings accounts are extremely flexible savings vehicles

that offer many advantages, called HSAs for short.

These programs are available for United States taxpayers to provide a tax advantage

that offsets our growing health care expenses.

First I'll discuss who is qualified to have an HSA, then I'll explain more about the specifics of

HSA's, how you open one and the benefits.

To qualify for a health savings account, you must meet the following five requirements. Number one, you must be 18 years of age. Number two, you must have a high deductible health plan or

HDHP.

More details about these in a moment.

Number three, you cannot have any general health coverage

other than a high deductible health plan.

Number four, you must not be enrolled yet for Medicare benefits.

And number five, you cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's 2007 income tax return.

If you meet these five criteria, congratulations!

You're eligible to have a health savings account.

And if you're not eligible right now, stay with me

because you might become eligible in the future.

So what's considered a high deductible health plan?

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