The Department of the Treasury and the IRS released guidance on new tax benefits made available to holders of Health Savings accounts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), the IRS said in a Dec. 9 statement.

A Health Savings account (HSA) allows people to set aside their pre-tax money that can later be used to cover medical costs. Since the money grows tax-free, having an HSA can be financially beneficial. When signing up for health insurance, an individual must opt for a high-deductible health plan in order to open an HSA. With high-deductible health plans, a person needs to shell out more in out-of-pocket expenses under the plan before their insurance coverage begins.

The OBBB, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, introduces new changes that “expand HSA eligibility, which allows more people to save and to pay for healthcare costs through tax-free HSAs,” according to the IRS.

The first change is related to access to telehealth and other similar services.

The OBBB has made permanent an HSA account holder’s “ability to receive telehealth and other remote care services,” even when they don’t meet high-deductible health plan requirements, while remaining eligible to contribute toward an HSA, the IRS said. This is effective for plan years that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2025.

The second change made by OBBB is that it treats Bronze and Catastrophic health plans as high-deductible health plans.

In the U.S. health insurance marketplace, health plans are typically divided into four categories—Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. An additional fifth category, the Catastrophic plan, is available to people under certain conditions.

According to a Dec. 9 IRS notice, before the OBBB was enacted, many Bronze and Catastrophic participants could not qualify for high-deductible health plans.

However, with the passage of the OBBB, bronze and catastrophic plans available through health insurance marketplaces are now considered “HSA-compatible” as of Jan. 1, 2026, the IRS said.

“This expands the ability of people enrolled in these plans to contribute to HSAs, which they generally have not been able to do in the past,” it said.

The third change made by the OBBB involves direct primary care service arrangements.

These are arrangements in which people pay their physician or practice periodic payments for a set of primary care services such as physical exams, lab tests, vaccinations, and the diagnosis and treatment of certain illnesses and injuries, according to the notice.

Before the OBBB was enacted, a person generally was not eligible to contribute to an HSA if they were enrolled in a direct primary care service arrangement, according to the notice.

Under OBBB provisions, from Jan. 1, 2026, an otherwise eligible individual enrolled in certain direct primary care service arrangements can contribute to an HSA, the IRS said, adding that they can use their HSA funds tax-free to pay periodic direct primary care fees.

The Treasury and the IRS have invited the public to comment on the notice. Comments must be submitted by March 6.