Can my HSA pay for my parent’s home care?

It can, when four rules hold. Seven questions on your phone show which ones your parent meets. Your answers are never sent.

Check my parent’s situation →

Your HSA plan makes the final call. General information, not tax advice.

1. Your parent counts as your dependent

   An HSA pays medical costs for you, your spouse and your dependents. That includes a person you could have claimed as a dependent except for their income or a joint return they filed. For a parent, that usually means you pay more than half of their support for the year.

   Sources: IRS Publication 969, qualified medical expenses; 26 U.S.C. 152(d), qualifying relative. Not sure? Sort it on agentichsa.com.

2. Your parent is chronically ill, as the law defines it

   They cannot do at least two of six daily activities (eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, continence) without substantial help for at least 90 days, or they need substantial supervision because of severe cognitive impairment. A licensed health care practitioner has certified this within the last 12 months.

   Sources: 26 U.S.C. 7702B(c)(2); IRS Publication 502, long-term care.

3. The care follows a plan of care

   The help (personal care, supervision, the daily tasks above) is given under a plan of care that a licensed health care practitioner prescribed. Most often that is your parent’s own doctor. Practice asking for an honest assessment, not a signature.

   Source: 26 U.S.C. 7702B(c)(1).

4. The caregiver is not you or another relative

   Care from a spouse or a relative does not count, even when it is paid through a company, unless that person is licensed for the service they give. Paying a caregiver or agency that is not family is the ordinary case that works.

   Source: 26 U.S.C. 213(d)(11); “relative” follows 26 U.S.C. 152(d)(2).