Now it's easier than ever to join the millions of health savings account (HSA) owners who enjoy tax advantages.

How Do You Decide If A Health Savings Account Is Right For You?

To decide whether an HSA plan will save you money, review your taxable income and your recent medical expenses. If both are high, it's a "no brainer" to reduce your taxable income by subtracting your healthcare expenses. You do need to know what healthcare expenses you can pay for with your health savings account funds, though.

Healthcare reform is increasing the penalty if you use HSA funds for expenses that do not meet guidelines. The penalty is doubling from 10 percent to 20 percent.

Under the Patient Protection Act, amounts paid for over-the-counter medications will no longer be reimbursable from health savings accounts. It is still ok to use HSA money for insulin or doctor-prescribed medications. Do All High-deductible Health Insurance Plans Work With An HSA?

Unfortunately, there are limits on which high-deductible health insurance plans you can combine with an HSA. Many people have high-deductible health insurance because the premiums are lower. You may find the plans that are qualified to be combined with an HSA have higher premiums than other high-deductible health insurance. In that case, you'll have to estimate your savings and compare that to the additional premium cost.

If you have some concern over how insurers will evaluate the risk of insuring you because you are overweight or have an existing health problem, it's wise to get some free professional advice. Independent agents who work with a number of different insurance companies can often find out which insurers handle health problems most favorably. They may also be able to estimate how much an insurer is likely to raise your premiums above what an average healthy person would be charged.

Depending on the insurance company you select, it may take from an hour to a month to find out whether that insurer has approved your application. It's usually a good idea to apply through independent agents who will monitor your application and let you know where it stands in the underwriting process where insurers evaluate the risk of insuring you.

Once you choose from the qualified high-deductible health insurance plans, setting up your HSA plan is easy. You can usually apply online or have an application mailed to you, which you can return by fax or mail. You can also typically request free professional assistance over the phone to answer your questions about HSA plans and to fill out an application.

When you get your policy, you also want to be sure you understand the coverage or get clarification on ambiguous portions. With your qualified high-deductible health insurance plan, you're ready to find the HSA administrator that offers the investment options and services you want.

How Do You Find The Right HSA Administrator?

Not all banks or other financial institutions can help you with an HSA, but many do provide HSA administration services. The biggest banks rarely include HSA services at the branch level so you may not be able to get much help from your local bank tellers.

It's a good idea to separate your HSA administration from your health insurance company to get the most investment options for the lowest administrative fees. If you need to switch to a different health insurance company for better coverage or rates, it will be easier if you don't have to change your HSA administrator at the same time.

You'll probably find that the investment and service options available to you typically increase for higher HSA balances. Typical investment options include brokerage services, fixed interest rates and mutual funds. Administrative services can include checks, debit cards, Internet transactions and online account access. It's not too different from standard checking account options, except that most HSA administrators charge fees for their services.

These fees vary significantly between HSA administrators so comparison-shopping can be worth the trouble. You'll want to compare set-up and maintenance fees and see whether institutions charge for transactions.