Turbotax is saying my wife had a lapse in our HDHP coverage in 2018 and wants to know why. we didnt have a lapse..where do they get that?

[KittyM · Accepted solution]

When going through the HSA interview, you will get to a screen entitled "What type of High Deductible Health Plan did [spouse] have on December 1st 2017?" If your spouse was covered under your health insurance plan, then you should select "none" not "family or self-only." You are selecting none because your spouse does not have their own coverage; they are covered under your plan.  If you select one of the other options, then you will get the notification about a coverage lapse. 

[bobb]

thanks.   they need to reword that question.

[M-a-t-t]

I agree, they need to reword that question. 

[Meade82]

We are having the same question/comment

my husband had his own plan through his employer and I have a plan through my employer that covers myself and our kids. It is saying that I had a lapse in coverage? How do I correct this?

[Meade82]

It is giving me the same comment. My husband has his policy for his self through his employer. I also have a policy through my employer that covers myself and our children but it is saying I had a lapse in coverage? How do I fix this

[MarilynG1]

@Meade82 You may have inadvertently checked a box you didn't want to in the HSA interview.  Your husband would indicate 'Self ' for his HDHP coverage.  You would indicate 'Family' for yours.

TurboTax also asks about the Prior Year and if there was a combination of coverages, so it can be a bit confusing here.

Type 'hsa' in the Search area, then click on 'Jump to hsa' and review the whole section.

Click this link for more info on HDHP Lapse in Coverage that may help you. 

[ChipRetriever]

Indeed.

This is a HORRIBLY worded question.

EVERYONE will choose "Family" if their spouse is covered under a Family plan.  It is TOTALLY non-intuitive - which completely misses the point of using this software.

Resorting to Google to figure something out in TurboTax represents a COMPLETE FAILURE of the software to achieve it's PRIMARY goal.