The short answer
Self-only coverage: $4,400 for 2026, $4,500 for 2027
Family coverage: $8,750 for 2026, $9,000 for 2027
Age 55 or older: add $1,000
To contribute, you need to be covered by a high-deductible health plan, have no other disqualifying coverage, not be enrolled in Medicare, and not be claimed as someone else’s dependent.
The catch-up when you’re both 55 or older
Here’s a detail that trips up a lot of couples. If you have family coverage and you’re both 55 or older, you can each make the $1,000 catch-up. But each spouse has to put theirs into their own HSA.
For 2026, that means a couple can contribute up to $10,750 combined: the $8,750 family limit plus $1,000 each. For 2027, it’s $11,000.
If only one of you has an HSA, only that spouse’s $1,000 can go in. The other $1,000 is left on the table unless the second spouse opens an account of their own.
A few timing notes
- You get extra time. Contributions for a tax year can generally be made through that year’s tax-filing deadline. For 2025, that was April 15, 2026.
- Payroll has a perk. Contributions through payroll generally skip payroll taxes too, which contributions you make on your own don’t.
- Medicare stops the clock. Starting with the first month you’re enrolled in Medicare, your contribution limit drops to zero.
Living in New Jersey?
New Jersey doesn’t follow the federal HSA rules, so these limits only matter for your federal return. Pennsylvania lets residents deduct contributions up to the federal limits.
Where that leaves you
How much to put in comes down to what you want the money to do: cover this year’s bills, build a cushion for health costs in retirement, or both. That depends on your health plan options, how your family uses care, and what else you’re saving for, and that’s where we can actually help.
For the full picture, including how an HSA can double as a retirement account, see HSAs: The Triple Tax Break Hiding in Your Health Plan.
You know where to find me.
Sources
- 2026 HSA limits: IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-19
- 2027 HSA limits: IRS, Rev. Proc. 2026-24
- Eligibility, $1,000 catch-up, each spouse’s catch-up in their own HSA, contribution deadline, payroll contributions, Medicare contribution limit of zero: IRS, Publication 969, “Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans”
- New Jersey doesn’t follow federal HSA tax treatment: New Jersey Legislature, Assembly Bill A1311
- Pennsylvania HSA contribution deduction: Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, “PA Personal Income Tax Guide – Deductions and Credits”