The question on the page before you see that you had a “lapse” in coverage is causing the issue.
On the previous page you should see the question, “What type of High Deductible Health Plan did [spouse] have on December 1, 2018?”. The choices are Family, Self only, or None.
If you have been covered under your husband’s family plan, you might think you should answer Family to the question. However, the answer should be None.
It is referring to what type of plan you held in your name on December 1, 2018. If you had your own separate HDHP on that date, then choose the type of plan that you had. If instead you were covered under the plan in your husband’s name, then you should choose None.
To go back to the section of your return to answer the questions again, use the following steps:
The question on the page before you see that you had a “lapse” in coverage is causing the issue.
On the previous page you should see the question, “What type of High Deductible Health Plan did [spouse] have on December 1, 2018?”. The choices are Family, Self only, or None.
If you have been covered under your husband’s family plan, you might think you should answer Family to the question. However, the answer should be None.
It is referring to what type of plan you held in your name on December 1, 2018. If you had your own separate HDHP on that date, then choose the type of plan that you had. If instead you were covered under the plan in your husband’s name, then you should choose None.
To go back to the section of your return to answer the questions again, use the following steps:
This is really helpful -- thank you!!! Why doesn't TURBOTAX explain this clearly as you have (e.g. were you covered by a plan under YOUR name, not your spouse's on Dec. 1, 2018)?
This response works great for my spouse. However, should I also respond "none" if I was the person whose employer held our family's medical insurance?
You should enter that you did have a HDHP account and that it was a Family plan.
I was covered by a HDHP by my employer and contributed to my own HSA, however I was also covered by my husband's HDHP. Do I still put "self" when asked what type of HDHP I had? Since my husband's employer covered him and I, I had put "family" for him, but it is incorrectly stating that he had a lapse in coverage. He also did not contribute to an HSA. How do I remedy this situation and make sure I'm providing accurate information??
Your issue is with the question that asks "What type of High Deductible Health Plan did [name] have on December 1, 2018?"
When you see this question for you, answer "Family" because that is what you had (if either spouse has Family coverage, the IRS considers both spouses to have Family coverage).
In your husband's case, though, you should answer "NONE".
This question is trying to determine if he utilized the "last-month" rule in 2018 (yes, 2018). The last-month rule lets you use the full annual HSA contribution limit if you had HDHP coverage on December 1, even if you were not covered by an HDHP for all of the year.
However, the catch is that if you used the last-month rule, the IRS requires that you stay under HDHP coverage for all of the following year (2019).
***NOTE*** This question occurs on the taxpayer who does not have an HSA, so never had a chance to tell TurboTax n the HSA interview what their HDHP coverage was for 2019.
As a result, TurboTax is confused - it thinks that your husband had HDHP coverage in 2018 and didn't have any coverage in 2019 (because it never asked), so he could have used the last month rule and failed to keep the HDHP coverage.
So, the fix for your husband is this: go back to the question for him (at the end of the HSA interview), and enter "NONE" for his coverage on December 1, 2018.