maxwell50

You are right, the IRS publication specifically says that self employed people are not eligible, while the department of labor specifically says that self employed people ARE eligible. Evidently a classic example of asking two government workers the same question, and getting two opposite answers, and yet they are both supposed to know what they are talking about. I can only conclude that one of these answers is wrong, or at the very least, they are not telling you the whole story.

I would suggest talking to an HRA administrator company and telling them about what you need, and see if they will be able to assist you. I suspect that the answer you get may also vary from one HRA administrator to another, for the reason that there is more than one way to draft an HRA plan. If none of these administrators can help you, then it really does seem that your are left with a choice of either an HSA or nothing.