Great Southern offers health savings accounts

Health savings accounts are tax-exempt trusts or custodial accounts for anyone covered by a qualified High Deductible Health Plan. Contributions to the accounts are fully deductible, and the earnings grow tax-deferred.

To be eligible, those with an HDHP must have a deductible of at least $1,000 for individual coverage and $2,000 for family coverage. Customers must not be covered by any other plan that is not an HDHP and cannot be enrolled in Medicare.

Only qualified medical expenses are eligible for reimbursement.

A health savings account can be opened with a minimum of $25 at any of Great Southern Bank’s 34 branches in central and southwest Missouri.

Earlier this year, President Bush spoke out in support of health savings accounts as a way to combat rising health insurance costs. Health savings accounts were created by a 2003 Medicare bill.

Kelly Polonus, spokesperson for Great Southern, said banks across the state are beginning to recognize the changing health care industry, and more are considering the benefits of offering health savings accounts.

“A lot of larger banks are beginning to offer them in different ways – some geared toward large commercial clients and others are offering it to individuals,” she said. “There are different trends going on in the marketplace as more and more banks are starting to look at the product.”