HSA Contribution Limits 2027

You are an eligible individual for a month if you are covered by a qualifying high deductible health plan on the first day of that month and have no disqualifying coverage. Your limit is one twelfth of the annual limit for each eligible month, using the self-only or family amount for that month, plus one twelfth of the $1,000 additional contribution for each eligible month if you are 55 or older by the end of the year (26 U.S.C. 223(b); Publication 969, "How Much Can Be Contributed").

Example. You are 57 and start family HDHP coverage on July 1, 2027. That is 6 eligible months: ($9,000 + $1,000) × 6 ÷ 12 = $5,000.00.

If you are an eligible individual on December 1, you are treated as eligible for the whole year and can contribute the full-year amount for the coverage you held on December 1 (26 U.S.C. 223(b)(8)(A)). When your coverage changed during the year, Publication 969 gives you the greater of the monthly proration and the full-year amount for your December 1 coverage.

Example. You start family coverage on December 1, 2027. Prorated, that is $750.00. With the last-month rule it is $9,000.00.

The catch is the testing period. You must stay an eligible individual from December 1, 2027 through December 31, 2028. If you do not, the contributions you could make only because of the rule are added to your income and a 10% additional tax applies, unless you die or become disabled. Enrolling in Medicare during the testing period also ends your eligibility and is not an exception, so the rule is risky if you will turn 65 next year.

If either spouse has family coverage, both spouses are treated as having family coverage, and there is one $9,000 limit for the two of you. It is divided equally unless you agree on a different split (26 U.S.C. 223(b)(5)). The rule applies only when both spouses are eligible individuals.

Each spouse who is 55 or older adds their own $1,000 and must put it in their own HSA. For example, with an equal split and one spouse 55 or older, that spouse's limit is $5,500.00 and the other's is $4,500.00.

Your contribution limit is zero beginning with the first month you are enrolled in Medicare, and that includes periods of retroactive Medicare coverage (Publication 969). Contributions made for backdated months are excess contributions. You can still spend what is already in the account on qualified expenses.

Example. Self-only coverage, 55 or older, Medicare starts in July 2027: ($4,500 + $1,000) × 6 ÷ 12 = $2,750.00. See our IRMAA calculator for Medicare premiums.

The limit covers everything going into your HSA. You reduce it by the contributions your employer makes that are excludable from your income, including money moved in through a cafeteria plan (26 U.S.C. 223(b)(4); Publication 969). Form W-2, box 12, code W shows employer money and your own pre-tax payroll contributions together; enter that total in the calculator's payroll box and only money you deposited yourself in the other box.

Example. Self-only limit of $4,500 with $1,500 from your employer leaves $3,000.00 for you, or $250.00 a month over 12 pay periods.

Contributions above your limit are not deductible, and you generally pay a 6% excise tax on them for each tax year they stay in the account. You can avoid it by withdrawing the excess and the income it earned by the due date, including extensions, of your return for the year of the contribution (Publication 969, "Excess contributions"). Excess employer money is included in your gross income.

Deadline. You can contribute for 2027 until the 2027 tax filing due date without extensions, April 18, 2028, including for months you were eligible even if you stopped being eligible later in the year. The due date is normally April 15 and moves to the next business day when that falls on a weekend or a Washington, D.C. holiday (April 15, 2028 is a Saturday, so the expected date is April 18; the IRS confirms it each filing season). Employer contributions made between January 1 and that date can be allocated to 2027 if your employer tells you and the trustee. Contributions for 2027 start January 1, 2027.

The 2025 reconciliation law (Pub. L. 119-21, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act) changed section 223. IRS Notice 2026-5 explains three changes:

• Bronze and catastrophic plans. For months beginning after December 31, 2025, a bronze or catastrophic plan is treated as an HDHP if it is available as individual coverage through an Exchange, even if it does not meet the HDHP deductible or out-of-pocket rules. A plan bought off-Exchange qualifies only if the same plan is offered on an Exchange (or you have no reason to think it is not); small-business SHOP plans generally do not qualify (Notice 2026-5, Q&A-6 to A-8).
• Direct primary care. A direct primary care service arrangement does not count as disqualifying coverage when the total fees for the individual are no more than $150 a month, or $300 if an arrangement covers more than one person. It must provide only primary care services from primary care practitioners for a fixed periodic fee, and it cannot include procedures needing general anesthesia, prescription drugs other than vaccines, or lab services not typically done in an ambulatory primary care setting; the terms of the arrangement decide this, not what you actually use. Your HDHP cannot pay the arrangement's fees before the deductible is met (Notice 2026-5, Q&A-11 to A-17). The amounts are adjusted for inflation after 2026, and the provision applies to months beginning after December 31, 2025. Rev. Proc. 2026-24 keeps $150 and $300 for 2027.
• Telehealth. The safe harbor that lets an HDHP cover telehealth and other remote care without a deductible is now permanent, retroactive to plan years beginning after December 31, 2024.

These changes affect whether you are an eligible individual. They do not change the contribution limits above.