@sploosh wrote:
Thanks. So, since I'll be making all my HSA contributions before July and won't contribute more than what the IRS allows, Medicare won't penalize it based on the 6-month lookback. (I'm single, so spousal rules aren't involved.)
Thats not what I said. Medicare won't penalize your HSA contributions but the IRS might. The question is when is your Medicare effective date? If you take Medicare 3 months before up to 3 months after your 65th birthday, Medicare will be effective on the first day of the month of your birth. If you delay taking Medicare, then Medicare will have a 6 month lookback.
Now, you said "In fact, I'm not eligible to even apply until April." If you turn 65 in April, then your effective date will be April 1, even if you wait until July to sign up. That means you are only HSA eligible for 3 months (Jan-March). Or, maybe you turn 65 in July, which means you can contact Medicare to start enrollment in April. In that case your start date will be July 1. But then, your reference to a 6 month lookback is confusing, because the lookback only applies to people who delay taking Medicare.
If you are are older than 65, and you did not sign up for Medicare when you turned 65, then Medicare will apply a 6 month lookback whenever you enroll. If you apply in July 2022, your Medicare effective date will be January 1 (or maybe Feb 1) and you won't be HSA eligible.
What I said was, "if you know what your effective date will be", but maybe you need more clarification on that first.
Also (and slightly unrelated), if you are eligible to make HSA contributions in 2022, it doesn't matter when you make them, as long as you don't go over your limit. You could wait until you get your Medicare card, see what your coverage start date is, and then make any HSA contributions if allowed, up to your limit.
