Denise E. Mooney v. Joy R. Webster, 812 F.3d 1276

Denise Mooney opened a Health Savings Account (HSA) in 2008, funded from her personal checking account, and used it to pay qualified medical expenses; she listed the HSA (≈ $17,571) as exempt in her 2013 Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Mooney claimed the HSA exempt under Georgia's exemption statute, O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(2)(C) ("disability, illness, or unemployment benefit") and (a)(2)(E) ("payment under a pension, annuity, or similar plan or contract on account of illness [or] disability").
The Chapter 7 trustee objected; the bankruptcy court sustained the objection and the district court affirmed. Mooney appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.
The central legal question: whether an HSA qualifies as an exempt "benefit" or as a "payment under a pension, annuity, or similar plan or contract on account of illness or disability" under Georgia law.
The parties disputed (a) whether "benefit" implies third-party or employment-linked payments, (b) whether an HSA is a "similar plan or contract" akin to pensions/IRAs (i.e., a wage substitute), and (c) whether HSA payments are made "on account of" illness or disability given accountholder control and tax incentives.
The Eleventh Circuit certified three questions to the Supreme Court of Georgia rather than decide state-law issues itself.

Issue	Mooney's Argument	Trustee's Argument	Held
Whether an HSA is a "disability, illness, or unemployment benefit" under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(2)(C)	HSAs fit the plain meaning of "benefit" and need not be employment-funded	"Benefit" implies third-party/employer or public payments; HSAs are self-funded and immediately accessible	Certified to GA Supreme Court for resolution
Whether an HSA is a "payment under a pension, annuity, or similar plan or contract" under (a)(2)(E)	HSAs are functionally like IRAs and substitute for wages (paying medical costs instead of wages)	HSAs are savings for medical expenses, not wage substitutes or retirement-type plans	Certified to GA Supreme Court for resolution
Whether HSA payments are made "on account of illness or disability" under (a)(2)(E)	Tax penalties for nonqualified withdrawals (20%) and the statutory purpose tie HSA distributions to illness/disability	Account holder control and ability to use funds for nonmedical purposes break the causal link to illness/disability	Certified to GA Supreme Court for resolution
Whether the phrase "the debtor’s right to receive" excludes funds already in the debtor's possession	Implicitly contends HSA funds remain a right to receive when held in an account intended for future healthcare payments	Trustee says funds deposited by debtor are already received and thus not covered	Certified as part of state-law inquiry; Eleventh Circuit declined to resolve

Rousey v. Jacoway, 544 U.S. 320 (2005) (IRA held exempt under federal analogue as a "similar plan" and payments were "on account of" age because of distribution rules and penalties)
Silliman v. Cassell, 738 S.E.2d 606 (Ga. 2013) (Georgia Supreme Court applied Rousey to hold an annuity exempt under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(2)(E))
In re Cassell, 688 F.3d 1291 (11th Cir. 2012) (Eleventh Circuit decision that certified related state-law exemption questions to the Georgia Supreme Court)