Are you contributing to a Health Savings Account (HSA)?
Medicare enrollment timing matters!

Medicare Part A can be backdated up to 6 months from the month you apply, not from the date you request to start Medicare Part B, but from the month you submit your application for Medicare.
This could affect your HSA contributions and result in tax penalties if you don’t stop contributions or withdrawal them prior to the deadline in time.

Here's an example:

Juan is leaving his employer's health plan and wants Medicare Part B to begin January 1.

  • Applies in October: His Part A could start retroactively on April 1, making March his last eligible month for HSA contributions.

  • Applies in December: His Part A could start June 1, allowing HSA eligibility through May instead.

Important to know:

  • If you're enrolling through an eligible employer coverage Special Enrollment Period, you may request a Part B start date up to 3 months in advance.

  • Premium-free Part A cannot be backdated earlier than your first month of Medicare eligibility, generally the month you turn 65.

  • HSA contributions must stop for months covered by Medicare, even retroactively.

Tip: If you're working past 65 and contributing to an HSA, talk with your financial advisors, or the government like the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service, etc. Click for reference materials.

MyMedicareHero is not the government.