For years, buying the cheapest plan on HealthCare.gov meant you got the big deductible and none of the tax perks. That deal just got better.
Since Jan. 1, 2026, every bronze and catastrophic plan sold to individuals counts as compatible with a health savings account, or HSA, according to the IRS.
Translation: Pick one of those plans, and you can stash money in an HSA, deduct it, and spend it on medical bills with no tax going in or coming out.
Open enrollment for 2027 coverage started Nov. 1. Plenty of shoppers will grab a bronze plan because the premium’s lowest. Most of them, I suspect, have no idea they’re leaving a tax break on the table.
I’ve been a CPA since 1981. Here are the six rules I’d want a friend to know before choosing a plan this fall.
1. The cheapest plans are now in the HSA club
Before 2026, many bronze plans didn’t qualify for an HSA, because they didn’t fit the IRS’ technical definition of a high-deductible health plan. The 2025 tax law fixed that by declaring bronze and catastrophic plans eligible, starting with months after Dec. 31, 2025.
The IRS spelled out the details in Notice 2026-5 and a December 2025 news release. One useful wrinkle: The plan doesn’t have to come from the exchange. A bronze or catastrophic plan bought directly from an insurer qualifies, too.
On HealthCare.gov, you don’t have to guess. The site’s HSA page points to an “Eligible for an HSA” filter that shows which plans in your area qualify.
CMS says eligible HealthCare.gov shoppers will have an average of 35 HSA-eligible plans to pick from for 2027.
Catastrophic plans are a narrower door. They’re generally limited to people under 30 or those who qualify for a hardship or affordability exemption. For most early retirees, bronze is the plan that matters here.
2. Had a bronze plan this year? You may still owe yourself a deduction
Here’s the part that’s easy to miss. The change took effect in January 2026. So if you’ve been on a bronze plan all year, you may already be eligible to fund an HSA for 2026.
The IRS lets you contribute for a tax year right up to the unextended filing deadline. For the 2026 tax year, that’s April 15, 2027.
The 2026 cap is $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, plus an extra $1,000 if you’re 55 or older.
That means a 58-year-old on a self-only bronze plan all year could put away as much as $5,400 for 2026 and deduct it on next spring’s return.
The fine print matters. Eligibility is tested month by month: qualifying coverage on the first day of the month, no other health coverage that disqualifies you, and nobody else able to claim you as a dependent. If any of that’s shaky, settle it before you write the check.
3. Run the 55-plus math for 2027
For 2027, the IRS raised the limits to $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage. The $1,000 catch-up for people 55 and older stays on top of that.
Now let’s make it real. As an illustration, say you’re 58, single, retired early and on a bronze plan. You put in $5,500.
In the 12% federal bracket, that saves about $660 in federal income tax. In the 22% bracket, it’s about $1,210. A couple at 22% maxing out the $9,000 family limit saves about $1,980, before any catch-up.
And you don’t need to itemize to get it. The HSA deduction is an “adjustment to income” on Schedule 1 of your return, so it lowers your adjusted gross income directly.
That’s a bigger deal than it sounds for early retirees. The marketplace bases your premium help on modified adjusted gross income, which starts with AGI. Lower the AGI, and you may lower the income used to figure your subsidy.
If you’re near a subsidy threshold, run the numbers before you file.
If you’re juggling retirement withdrawals, subsidies and HSA deposits all at once, a second set of eyes can be worth it. Here’s a place to find a financial advisor who can help you sort it out.
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4. Don’t let a tax break talk you into a deductible you can’t afford
I’ll be blunt. An HSA doesn’t make a bronze plan cheaper when you get sick. It just lets you pay the bills with pretax dollars.
According to HealthCare.gov, a bronze plan is built to pay about 60% of covered costs, leaving you the other 40%. Deductibles are generally high. For 2027, federal rules let marketplace plans cap your out-of-pocket costs as high as $12,000 for one person and $24,000 for a family.
Notice something? The normal HSA-plan rules for 2027 cap out-of-pocket costs at $8,700 for self-only coverage. Bronze plans got into the club without having to meet that limit.
So in a bad year, a bronze plan can leave you on the hook for up to $3,300 more than an old-style HSA plan could.
Go back to the illustration. That $1,210 tax savings covers about a tenth of a $12,000 worst-case year. It’s a nice cushion, not a safety net.
So be honest about your health. If you take expensive drugs or expect surgery, a silver plan could cost you less overall, even with the higher premium. Price out both.
Plenty of people have made the silver-to-bronze swap to escape higher premiums, as reported in this look at the deductible tradeoff.
5. Know what the account can — and can’t — pay for
This one trips people up. You generally can’t use HSA money to pay your health insurance premiums, including your marketplace premium.
The IRS lists a handful of exceptions: long-term care insurance, COBRA continuation coverage, coverage while you’re collecting unemployment, and Medicare and certain other coverage once you’re 65. Medigap policies don’t count.
Spend HSA money on something that isn’t a qualified medical expense, and you’ll owe income tax plus a 20% additional tax. That extra 20% goes away once you reach 65, become disabled or die.
Two newer perks are worth knowing. Starting in 2026, people in certain direct primary care arrangements — where you pay a doctor’s office a flat monthly fee — can still contribute to an HSA and use it to pay those fees tax-free.
The catch: The fees can’t top $150 a month, or $300 if the arrangement covers more than one person.
The other perk is that plans can now cover telehealth before you meet the deductible without costing you HSA eligibility. Congress made that permanent.
One more timing trap: Expenses you rack up before you open the HSA don’t count as qualified. So if you’re switching to bronze in January, open the account early rather than waiting until the first big bill shows up. The plan and the account are two different things.
6. Medicare slams the door on new contributions
Here’s the endgame. Once your Medicare coverage starts, the IRS says, your HSA contribution limit drops to zero for every month you’re enrolled.
If you’re working past 65, Medicare’s website adds a warning: You and your employer should stop HSA deposits six months ahead of retiring or claiming Social Security, to avoid a tax penalty.
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The good news? The money doesn’t vanish. Unused balances roll over year after year. After 65, you can use the account to pay Medicare premiums, and withdrawals for nonmedical stuff no longer trigger the 20% penalty, though they’re still taxable.
Bottom line
The cheapest marketplace plans just picked up one of the best tax shelters in the code: deductible going in, tax-free growth, tax-free coming out for medical bills. For a healthy early retiree, that’s a real reason to take a fresh look at bronze.
But the tax break is the side dish, not the meal. Pick the plan based on what you can afford if things go wrong, then use the HSA to soften the blow.
The calendar’s tight. On HealthCare.gov, sign up or switch by Dec. 15 to have new coverage start Jan. 1. Open enrollment closes Jan. 15, with coverage starting Feb. 1. If your state runs its own exchange, check its dates.
If your insurer is pulling out of your area, check whether yours is among the 11 leaving before you do anything else.
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