Open Enrollment 2026: Your HSA, FSA & LSA Game Plan

This is the highest-paying 15 minutes of your year, and most people click through it on autopilot. Open enrollment is the once-a-year window when you decide how much of your paycheck skips taxes on its way into your benefit accounts.

Here's the fast answer. During 2026 open enrollment you choose how much pre-tax money to route into three big buckets: a Health Savings Account (HSA), a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and, if you pay for childcare, a Dependent Care FSA. For 2026 the IRS caps are $4,400 (self-only) or $8,750 (family) for the HSA, $3,400 for the health FSA, and a newly doubled $7,500 for the dependent care FSA. Every dollar you elect is a dollar the IRS never taxes. This guide tells you exactly how much to put where.

The 30-second open enrollment cheat sheet

Short on time? Here's the whole playbook at a glance.

If you have a high-deductible health plan: max the HSA

• Contribute here first. The HSA is the only account that's triple tax-free: money goes in pre-tax, grows tax-free, and comes out tax-free for medical costs, which is why it doubles as a stealth retirement account.
• 2026 limit: $4,400 self-only or $8,750 family, plus a $1,000 catch-up if you're 55 or older.
• It's yours for life. No use-it-or-lose-it. Unspent money rolls over year after year and can be invested.

If you have a traditional health plan: fund the FSA

• Your move if you're not HSA-eligible. You can't fund a standard health FSA and an HSA in the same year.
• 2026 limit: $3,400 in pre-tax salary.
• Use-it-or-lose-it. Many plans let you carry $680 into 2027; the rest disappears. Elect only what you'll realistically spend.

If you pay for childcare: grab the dependent care FSA

• The cap just jumped. For 2026 the dependent care FSA limit rose from $5,000 to $7,500, a big increase from a figure that had held for decades.
• Covers daycare, preschool, after-school care, and day camp for kids under 13.
• Separate from your medical FSA. You can fund both in the same year.

TL;DR: On an HDHP, max the HSA; if not, right-size an FSA; and if you have kids in care, the dependent care FSA now shelters up to $7,500.

What are the 2026 and 2027 contribution limits?

The elections you make this fall take effect for the 2027 plan year, so both years are worth knowing. Here's the money, labeled by year.

HSA (Health Savings Account)

• 2026: $4,400 self-only, $8,750 family, plus a $1,000 catch-up at age 55+.
• 2027: $4,500 self-only, $9,000 family, catch-up stays $1,000.
• The catch: your plan has to be a true HDHP. In 2026 that means a deductible of at least $1,700 self-only or $3,400 family.

Health FSA

• 2026: $3,400 in salary reductions, with up to $680 carrying into 2027 if your plan allows it.
• Employer extra: your employer can add up to $500 on top without eating into your limit.

Dependent Care FSA

• 2026: $7,500 per household, or $3,750 if married filing separately, up from $5,000.
• One catch: your employer has to adopt the higher limit in their plan documents. If they haven't, you may still be capped at $5,000, so check your enrollment portal.

TL;DR: HSA caps climb to $4,400/$8,750 in 2026 and $4,500/$9,000 in 2027; the health FSA sits at $3,400; the dependent care FSA leaps to $7,500 if your employer opted in.

HSA or FSA: which should you actually pick?

Most of the time your health plan makes this choice for you. Enroll in a high-deductible plan and you're eligible for an HSA, which is almost always the better deal because the money is yours for life and can be invested. Pick a traditional lower-deductible plan and the health FSA becomes your pre-tax vehicle. So the real question isn't which account. It's how much.

A simple rule: fund the HSA up to whatever you can spare, since it never expires, and fund an FSA only up to what you know you'll spend this year. If you want the full side-by-side, our guide to the difference between an HSA, FSA, and LSA breaks down ownership, rollover, and taxes.

One thing the size of your election can't fix on its own: the money only pays off if you actually spend it on eligible things. That's the gap Caeli closes. As you shop on Amazon, Target, or CVS, it flags what your HSA or FSA covers before you pay, and at checkout it puts eligible items on your benefits card and everything else on a backup card, so your card clears more often at the register.

TL;DR: Your health plan usually decides HSA vs FSA for you; the decision that actually matters is how much to contribute, and the HSA wins when you can leave the money to grow.

The open enrollment mistakes that cost you the most

• Over-funding an FSA you won't spend. Roughly half of FSA holders forfeited money back to their employer in 2022, an average of $441 each. Elect what you'll truly use, then spend it down before the deadline. Our use-it-or-lose-it survival manual has the year-end game plan.
• Skipping the dependent care FSA. With the cap now at $7,500, a household in the 24% bracket saves roughly $1,800 in federal income tax alone. We run the full math in our dependent care FSA guide.
• Leaving your LSA on the table. Many employers now offer a Lifestyle Spending Account for gym memberships, wellness gear, and sometimes home-office equipment. It's separate from your health accounts and often goes unclaimed. Here's what an LSA is and how to use it. Caeli reads your specific plan's LSA terms and surfaces what's actually covered, so you're not guessing whether your yoga membership counts.
• Electing, then forgetting. The money does nothing until you use it. Set a reminder to actually spend from the account you funded.

TL;DR: The costliest moves are over-funding an FSA you won't spend, skipping the newly doubled dependent care FSA, and letting your LSA dollars expire.

Caeli Pro-Tip: Electing the money is step one. Actually capturing it is step two, and it's where most of the savings leak out. Install the free Caeli browser extension before your new elections kick in. It shows an instant eligibility badge as you shop, splits your checkout so eligible items land on your HSA or FSA card, and pairs each receipt with its paperwork so you're covered if your plan administrator asks for proof. You did the work of setting the money aside. Let Caeli make sure it gets used.

Frequently asked questions

When is open enrollment for 2026?

Most employer open enrollment periods run two to four weeks in the fall, usually between October and early December, for coverage that starts January 1. Your exact window is set by your employer, so check your HR portal. If you buy your own coverage through the ACA Marketplace, that open enrollment typically opens November 1.

How much can I contribute to an HSA in 2026?

$4,400 with self-only HDHP coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, plus an extra $1,000 if you're 55 or older. Those caps rise to $4,500 and $9,000 in 2027.

What is the 2026 FSA contribution limit?

$3,400 in pre-tax salary reductions for a health FSA. If your plan offers a carryover, you can roll up to $680 of unused 2026 funds into 2027.

Did the dependent care FSA limit really increase to $7,500?

Yes. For plan years beginning in 2026, the dependent care FSA cap rose from $5,000 to $7,500, or $3,750 if married filing separately, under the 2025 tax law, and the change is permanent. Your employer has to adopt the higher limit in their plan, so confirm it in your enrollment materials.

Can I have both an HSA and an FSA at the same time?

Not a general-purpose health FSA. If you contribute to an HSA, you can only pair it with a limited-purpose FSA (dental and vision) or a dependent care FSA. Enrolling in a standard health FSA makes you ineligible to contribute to an HSA that year.

What happens to my FSA money if I don't use it?

Health FSAs are use-it-or-lose-it. Depending on your plan you may get a carryover of up to $680 or a grace period of up to two and a half extra months, but anything past that is forfeited to your employer. If you're changing jobs mid-year, here's what happens to your FSA when you leave.

The bottom line

Open enrollment isn't paperwork. It's the one moment a year you get to lower your own tax bill and pre-fund things you were going to buy anyway, from prescriptions to daycare to a new pair of glasses. Max the HSA if you can, right-size the FSA, claim the dependent care and lifestyle accounts you're entitled to, and then, above all, use the money. Make your elections this fall, then let Caeli make sure not a dollar of it goes to waste.