Legal Briefing: The Health Savings for Seniors Act

Anyone enrolled in Medicare, either traditional fee-for-service or Medicare Advantage plans (including Medicare Advantage MSA), will be HSA eligible—as long as they are otherwise eligible to contribute to an HSA.

• An individual could open an HSA and fund it to the HSA individual maximum.
• An individual that already has an HSA would be able to continue contributing to their account after they leave employment and enroll in Medicare.

The bill allows working seniors to enroll in Medicare and still be HSA eligible on their employer-sponsored, HSA-qualified health plan coverage.

This bill does not change any rules for Medicare.

The following HSA rules will apply:

• Individuals will not be able to use HSA funds to pay for Medicare premiums.
• The waiver of the penalty for non-qualified withdrawals from the HSA will be eliminated for those 65 and over, just like it is now for those under 65.

This bill changes the term High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to HSA-Qualified Health Plan to be inclusive of the newly eligible Medicare plans.