HSA contribution limit: 2026, 2027, and a part-year
What you may put into a health savings account in 2026 and 2027, by coverage and age, and how the limit is prorated when you are eligible for part of a year.
The limit is annual, but it is figured monthly. If you are an eligible individual for only part of the year, the annual amount is multiplied by the number of eligible months and divided by twelve — and the additional $1,000 at 55 or older is prorated with the rest.
This is the contribution ceiling, not a plan design. It says nothing about whether the plan you hold makes you an eligible individual, and it does not touch the state question — California's Revenue and Taxation Code says section 223 "shall not apply", so a California resident gets the federal deduction and the payroll-tax saving but not a state one.
The first three rows are what you may put in. The last four describe the plan that has to be in place first: a deductible at or above the minimum and an out-of-pocket maximum at or below the ceiling. They are a qualification test, not a description of what your plan charges.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Your contribution limit, self-only coverage | $4,400 | $4,500 |
| Your contribution limit, family coverage | $8,750 | $9,000 |
| Additional contribution, age 55 or older | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Minimum the plan's deductible must be, self-only | $1,700 | $1,750 |
| Minimum the plan's deductible must be, family | $3,400 | $3,500 |
| Maximum the plan's out-of-pocket can be, self-only | $8,500 | $8,700 |
| Maximum the plan's out-of-pocket can be, family | $17,000 | $17,400 |
The $1,000 does not move: section 223(b)(3)(B) fixes it at $1,000 for 2009 "and thereafter", which is why it is the one row without an inflation step. Two spouses who both qualify, both have family coverage and are both 55 or older may each add it — $11,000 for 2027 on two accounts, because there is no joint HSA.
2027 figures, self-only coverage, 55 or older, so the annual amount is $5,500. The six-month row is the case the tax rules are usually explained with: a person who turns 65 in July and is entitled to Medicare from that month has six eligible months, and $5,500 × 6 ÷ 12 = $2,750.
| Eligible months | Annual amount | Your limit |
|---|---|---|
| 12 (the whole year) | $5,500.00 | $5,500.00 |
| 9 | $5,500.00 | $4,125.00 |
| 6 | $5,500.00 | $2,750.00 |
| 3 | $5,500.00 | $1,375.00 |
| 1 | $5,500.00 | $458.33 |
The trap is the month, not the year. Part A is often automatic — CMS's handbook says anyone already receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits is enrolled from the first day of the month they turn 65 — and a later sign-up for premium-free Part A can start coverage six months back. The zero-limit rule reaches retroactive coverage, so a contribution made in a month you were already entitled to Medicare is an excess contribution, and the 6% excise tax applies to each year it stays in the account.
A health savings account has one annual ceiling, published each autumn for the following year, and it is the simplest number on this site to state and the easiest to apply wrongly. The limit is not a target, it is not a deduction, and it is not the same for twelve months as it is for six.
The calculator above answers one question: for a given year, coverage type and number of eligible months, what is the most you may put in. Everything below is about reading that answer correctly.
What the limit is measured against
Three things set it, and they are independent of each other.
Coverage type. Self-only and family are separate ceilings, and the family ceiling applies to family coverage. There is no joint account: a married couple needs two accounts, and the additional contribution each spouse is entitled to goes into that spouse’s own account.
Age at the end of the year. At 55 or older you may add $1,000 on top of the coverage limit. This figure is fixed by statute rather than indexed, so unlike every other number on the page it does not move.
Eligible months. The limit is figured monthly. The annual amount is multiplied by the number of months you were an eligible individual and divided by twelve — the method the rules use for someone whose Medicare coverage begins in, say, July.
The part-year rule, and why it bites
The month that ends your contribution window is the month you become entitled to Medicare, not the month you enrol, and not the month you retire. Part A alone is enough, including premium-free Part A. Because Part A is automatic for anyone already receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits, and because a later sign-up for premium-free Part A can reach back six months, the effective date can land earlier than the calendar suggests.
Contributions made in a month you were already entitled are excess contributions: not deductible, and subject to a 6% excise tax for each year the money stays in the account. That repetition, not the first year’s penalty, is the part that costs.
What the number does not tell you
- It is not an eligibility test. Holding a high-deductible plan is one of four conditions; the other three — no disqualifying coverage, not entitled to Medicare, not someone’s dependent — are not in the arithmetic at all.
- It is not a plan design. The minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket rows describe the plan that has to be in place first. A plan with a $2,500 deductible and a $6,000 out-of-pocket maximum qualifies, and that is the point of them.
- It is federal. State treatment is separate and, in California, expressly different: the state’s Revenue and Taxation Code provides that section 223 “shall not apply”, so the state leg of the triple advantage does not exist there.
Where the figures come from
The 2026 amounts are from Revenue Procedure 2025-19 and the 2027 amounts from Revenue Procedure 2026-24, and they were last checked against those documents on 11 October 2026. The rules that turn an annual figure into a monthly one, and the ones that close the window at Medicare, are in Publication 969 and Publication 15-B.
The account itself — the three tax breaks, what the money may buy, the reimbursement strategy and the trap at 65 — is in The HSA as a retirement account. Read that before using this page for anything beyond the limit.
If the question is what a plan with that deductible actually costs you in a year, the sequence from deductible to coinsurance to out-of-pocket maximum is in what one bill actually costs.
Frequently asked questions
- How much can I contribute to an HSA for 2027?
- For calendar year 2027 the annual limit is $4,500 with self-only coverage under a high-deductible health plan and $9,000 with family coverage, plus $1,000 if you are 55 or older at the end of the year. The 2026 limits are $4,400 and $8,750, with the same $1,000 additional contribution.
- Why is my limit not the full annual amount?
- Because the limit is figured monthly. If you are an eligible individual for only part of the year — typically because Medicare begins partway through — the annual amount is multiplied by the number of eligible months and divided by twelve. The additional $1,000 at 55 or older is prorated the same way, which is how a six-month year on self-only coverage comes to $2,750 for 2027.
- Does the limit change if my spouse also has an HSA?
- Each spouse has their own account and their own limit; there is no joint HSA. Two spouses who both qualify, both hold family coverage and are both 55 or older may each add the $1,000, which is $11,000 between them for 2027 — on two accounts, not one.
- Is the $1,000 additional contribution indexed for inflation?
- No. The statute fixes it at $1,000 for 2009 and thereafter, so it is the one figure in the table that does not move with the annual inflation adjustments that produce the coverage limits and the plan qualification tests.
Sources
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-24, 2027 inflation-adjusted HSA amounts: self-only $4,500, family $9,000; HDHP minimum deductible $1,750/$3,500; maximum out-of-pocket $8,700/$17,400 (irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-26-24.pdf)
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-19, 2026 HSA amounts: self-only $4,400, family $8,750; HDHP minimum deductible $1,700/$3,400; maximum out-of-pocket $8,500/$17,000 (irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf)
- Internal Revenue Code section 223 — (b)(2) contribution limits, (b)(3) the additional contribution fixed at $1,000 for 2009 and thereafter, (b)(7) Medicare, (c)(1) eligible individual, (c)(2) high-deductible health plan (United States Code, 2023 Edition, Title 26)
- IRS Publication 969 (2025), Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans — eligibility, the monthly limit rule, the Medicare limit of zero from the first month of entitlement, and the excess-contribution excise tax (irs.gov/publications/p969)
- IRS Publication 15-B (2026), Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits — no contributions can be made after enrollment in Medicare Part A or Part B (irs.gov/publications/p15b)
- CMS, Medicare & You 2027 (Product No. 10050) — automatic Part A and Part B enrollment for people already receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board benefits
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17215.4 and California Franchise Tax Board Publication 1001 — the state does not follow section 223 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov; ftb.ca.gov)