HSA Bill Pay
A small, self-hosted tool I use to keep track of my family's out-of-pocket medical expenses and reimburse them from our Health Savings Account.
This is not a commercial product or service. It has one user: me. It's not offered to the public and doesn't collect anyone else's information.
What it does
- Reads the medical bills and receipts we upload and records what we owe.
- With my authorization, retrieves my own claims (Explanation of Benefits) from my health plan through its Patient Access API.
- Matches bills to claims, so I pay the right amount and keep receipts for tax records.
- Totals up reimbursable expenses so I can pay myself back from my HSA.
Privacy policy
Where data lives. All health information, including claims, bills, and receipts, is stored only on my own computer. It isn't uploaded to any cloud database, analytics service or other third party.
What is accessed. The app requests read-only access to claims and coverage data for the health plan member who signs in. That's me, or a family member who chooses to connect their own account. It never accesses anyone else's data.
How it's used. The data is used only to reconcile our medical expenses and document HSA reimbursements. It's never sold, shared, used for advertising or used to train AI models.
Processing. Uploaded documents are read by an AI model running locally on the same computer. No document content is sent to an outside AI service.
Network. A Cloudflare Tunnel provides HTTPS access to exactly two endpoints: a private upload page for family members, protected by a secret key, and the sign-in redirect from the health plan. The redirect is passed straight to the local app. No health data is stored outside my computer.
Security. Access tokens are stored locally in files readable only by my account. Nothing other than the two endpoints above is reachable from the internet.
Consent. Data is collected only after the member signs in to their health plan and approves access. After that, the app keeps retrieving new claims as they become available, until the member revokes that access.
Withdrawing consent. Access can be revoked at any time from the health plan's account settings or by disconnecting in the app, which immediately stops any further data retrieval. Data already retrieved is kept locally as a tax record unless deletion is requested, in which case it is deleted.
Disclosures. Personal data is never disclosed to third parties. The only exception is where the law requires it, for example a valid subpoena or an IRS audit of HSA expenses. Any other disclosure would require the individual's separate, informed, prior consent.
Marketing. The app never markets goods or services, its own or anyone else's. Any marketing would require a separate consent.
De-identified information. The app doesn't create, use or share de-identified or aggregated data. Any such use would require consent.
Changes to this policy. If this policy changes, affected family members will be told directly and can re-affirm or withdraw consent. Their data will be handled as described above.
If the project ends. This app will never be sold or transferred. If it's discontinued, connections to the health plan are revoked and the retrieved data stays only in my family's personal records.
Protecting your health data
For family members who connect their health plan account or upload documents:
- Know what's shared. Connecting gives read-only access to your claims and coverage. It can't change anything with your plan or make payments.
- You're in control. You can disconnect at any time, either in the app or in your health plan's account settings. You can also ask for your data to be deleted.
- Keep the upload link private. The phone upload link contains a secret key. Don't share it or post screenshots of it. If it leaks, ask for a new one and the old link stops working.
- Protect your plan login. Use a strong, unique password and two-factor authentication for your health plan account. This app never sees or stores your password.
- Be careful with other apps. Before connecting any health app, read its privacy policy to see whether it sells or shares your data. The CARIN Code of Conduct and the HHS guide to your right of access explain what to look for.
Contact
Eamon Penland ยท eamon.penland@gmail.com