Setting up a record keeping system.  

It's important to keep good records of your health expenses for a number of reasons.

1. Knowing what your true expenditures are helps you plan better for next year.
2. Keeping track of who paid for what makes you look carefully at your statements to confirm the charges are correct and the insurance company is paying their fair share.
3. Receipts of where you spend your HSA funds are required by the IRS. For more information go to The HSAs and the IRS.

To begin:

Save all receipts!

Separate the receipts into those that qualify for your deductible (physician visit) from those that qualify for the HSA but not for your health insurance deductible (over the over the counter cold medicine). You need to contact your insurance company to get a list of expenditures that qualify for your deductible, because this can be different for each policy.

Submit copies of the receipts that qualify for your deductible to your insurance company if the healthcare provider hasn't done it for you.

Request disbursement from your HSA trustee for unreimbursed qualified expenses.

Keep and file copies of all paperwork!

For additional information go to the IRS site at

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p502/index.html