2027 HSA Limits Are Up Again. The Hard Part Is Getting Employees to Use Them.

I sit in a lot of enrollment meetings. The moment I know a group is going to have a good year is when someone in the back asks, "Wait, so the HSA money is mine even if I leave?" That question means the plan finally clicked for somebody. Most of the time it has not, and the account sits there with a few hundred dollars in it doing nothing.

So before we talk about the 2027 numbers, I want to say the obvious: the limit does not matter if your people do not understand the account.

The 2027 numbers

The IRS set the 2027 HSA contribution limit at $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage. That is up $100 and $250 from 2026. The $1,000 catch-up for anyone 55 or older stays the same.

To pair with an HSA, a plan has to meet the 2027 high-deductible thresholds: a minimum deductible of $1,750 self-only or $3,500 family, and an out-of-pocket maximum no higher than $8,700 self-only or $17,400 family. If you are renewing an HSA-qualified plan, your carrier should already be inside those lines, but it is worth a glance.

The dependent care FSA limit is $7,500 for 2027, which is a big deal for families with daycare bills and one that a lot of employees still do not know about. As I write this the IRS has not published the 2027 health FSA limit yet. The 2026 figure is $3,400. We will update clients the week it comes out, and until then your enrollment materials should say "to be confirmed" rather than guess.

Why the account sits empty

In my experience it comes down to three things. People think it works like an FSA and they will lose the money. People do not know the employer contribution is real money that is theirs. And nobody has ever shown them what a year actually looks like in dollars.

What works in the room

I stopped leading with the tax advantages. Instead I walk through one employee's year: the premium savings on the high-deductible plan, the employer HSA deposit, a couple of doctor visits paid from the account, and what is left in December. When people see the balance roll over instead of disappear, the body language in the room changes.

The second thing that works is payroll. If an employee has to go set up a contribution on a carrier portal, most never will. Build it into the enrollment form as a default election they can change, not an extra step they have to find.

The third is telling the catch-up story to your 55-plus employees directly. That extra $1,000 a year is one of the best retirement tools they have, and most have never been told.

One request

If you offer an HSA plan for 2027 and your participation is under half of the eligible group, let us come run a thirty-minute session. Not a webinar. A conversation. The limits went up again this year, and the account is worth a lot more to your employees than the number suggests.