After writing about the effect CitiBank’s new balance transfer fee has on balance transfer arbitrage, I received an email from a reader, Andy, who has an idea to take advantage of healthcare savings account (HSA) reimbursements. This is a summary of his idea.
A good way to make some extra money is to take advantage of expected reimbursements. Medical expenses are good examples. If your HSA is efficient and sends your reimbursement quickly after your claim is received, you can deposit the funds, pay the bill by credit card as late as possible, and earn interest until the bill is due later. Here’s how the time line works out:
* 1st of month. I receive a medical bill for $1,000 and immediately submit the claim to HSA.
* Likely before the 15th of month. Receive reimbursement from HSA and deposit into savings account.
* 15th of month (or first day of the next credit card statement period). Charge bill to credit card.
* 15th of following month (or several days after the end of the statement period). Receive credit card bill with $1,000 charge.
* 15th of third month (or credit card statement’s due date). Pay credit card bill using $1,000 from savings.
If you assume that you’re receiving a 1% rebate on your credit card, and your savings account earns 5% annual interest, here are Andy’s calculations, outlining two months of interest plus a rebate on the bill. None of your payments will be late.
Obviously, this is a best-case scenario and the actual return would be lower. Missing the credit card payment will negate any benefit. It’s interesting to note that if your card offers a 2% rebate, the annualized return increases to 18.25%.
What you can earn from this technique is limited by the maximum reimbursement you can receive from your HSA, but if you qualify for other employer reimbursements, you can use them to your advantage as well.
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