Here are 4 ways health savings accounts can be used to pay insurance premiums

HSAs carry a triple tax advantage: Account contributions are tax-free, as are investment earnings and withdrawals if used for qualified expenses.

Consumers can use HSA funds for a non-qualified purchase — but they’d lose a prong of the three-tiered tax benefit. A withdrawal would be taxed as income, similar to the way a pre-tax 401(k) or individual retirement account works.

In an ideal world, consumers would be able to fully fund their HSA each year and pay for current health costs out-of-pocket, leaving the accounts untouched until retirement, according to financial advisors.

“The compounding of earnings could fund all your health care when you’re old,” said Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and certified financial planner, based in Jacksonville, Florida.

But it’s not always possible to use HSAs that way — especially for lower and middle earners who may not be able to shoulder those expenses. HSAs are typically paired with high-deductible health plans which, depending on the plan, could generate big bills for medical care.

Here are four cases in which HSA funds can be applied to premiums:

Premiums for health-care continuation coverage such as COBRA count as a qualified expense, according to the IRS.

COBRA lets people who lose health benefits — due to circumstances like job loss, reduction in the hours worked, jobs transitions, death or divorce — continue their workplace health coverage on a temporary basis.

COBRA coverage typically allows consumers to keep the same health-care providers, but the coverage is often pricey.

When employed, workers generally only pay a share of the total premium, with the rest subsidized by their employer. With COBRA coverage, however, individuals may have to cover the full premium, up to 102% of the cost to the plan.

The total average premium for single coverage through a workplace plan in 2023 is $703 a month, or $8,435 a year, according to KFF, a nonprofit health data…