HSA vs Traditional Health Plan Calculator

Choosing between an HSA-eligible High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and a Traditional Health Plan for 2026 comes down to total out-of-pocket cost, not premiums alone. The tax advantages of an HSA and your own medical needs can tilt the answer in either direction, so the comparison here weighs premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and the HSA contributions and tax savings that ride along with the high-deductible option.

Each plan's total annual cost is built by adding the annual premium to estimated out-of-pocket medical expenses, capped at that plan's out-of-pocket maximum. For the HDHP, the model layers in the tax savings from HSA contributions, assuming a 22% federal income tax bracket and 5% state income tax for a combined 27% benefit, plus any employer contributions to the account. Running this across several medical-spending tiers shows the maximum exposure you'd face under each plan.

Your estimated annual medical spending is the variable that swings the result the most, so it's worth getting close. Employer HSA contributions deserve a line of their own, since they pull down out-of-pocket costs directly and people routinely leave them out. The tax savings on HSA contributions are the other easy thing to miss, and they can make an HDHP the more affordable choice even when its deductible looks steep next to a traditional plan.