Here is the situation and what I would like to do:
My wife and I are on separate HDHP with our respective employers, which means we are eligible for 2 HSA accounts and 2 solo limits for a total of $7100 for 2020 tax year. (well minus one month since my wife's begins Feb 1 and just going to prorate rather than doing a test year)
I opened my HSA account during the previous year's enrollment which would begin Jan 1 but I declined my wife's (because I thought because we were both on HDHP, we could still contribute 2 solo limits into my one account) or I planned to open it later in the year as we were expecting a child so we knew she was going to hit her deductible.
Well, we had a serious medical emergency on January 8th with an ambulance ride and an extended hospital stay for her. Her deductible is $4500 and I am not sure if the ambulance will be in-network or out of network, so looking at well over my solo amount of $3550 with just her medical bills. Within a couple days of this event, I had the idea to contact my Wife's employer and ask about opening her HSA. I got the approval and it will go into effect on February 1st. So here is what I was hoping to do without throwing up red flags with the IRS:
I put my solo maximum of $3550 into my HSA account and then once my wife's HSA account opens on Feb 1, put her pro-rated maximum of around $3100 also into my account. A couple reasons I feel this is okay: I read on the IRS website that spouses can contribute their money however they feel between HSA accounts, even choosing to give one account $0 and the other the 2 solo maximum amounts. I also read that you can't use your HSA to pay for bills from before the account was opened, so my wife's HSA opening on Feb 1st can't pay for her bills, but my HSA account was open before the medical event so it is eligible to pay for her bills.
Does this seem okay? Trying to maximize our 2 HSAs without breaking the law. Thanks!
The primary question is if it is okay to use the 2 solo contributions (of $6700) for medical bills from before the 2nd HSA account was active, even though my account WAS active when the qualifying medical expenses happened, or if I can only use my $3550 contribution for those expenses and my wife’s contributions for medical expenses after Feb 1st.