Thanks for your reply. I read on this site that someone should apply for Medicare 3 months before leaving a company. When To Stop HSA Contributions Before Enrolling in Medicare - Retirement Daily on TheStreet: Finance...
Here's a clip:
Behind the scenes, Medicare Part A has a 6-month retroactive start date. And therefore, contributions to an HSA become ineligible six months before filing the application.
The key word is applying. When coordinating all pieces of one’s Medicare packet, you should apply three months before leaving the company. The Medicare retroactive period starts at the application date, not at the retirement date.
And now a new question:
In my case, I want to start actually using Medicare on 3/1/27 rather than my company's plan after I retire, so that's why I indicated that I thought my application date would be 12/1/26 (based on the site above), with the 6-month look-back to 6/1/26.
If Medicare becomes effective 6 months before the application date, then does that mean if I apply on 3/1/27, I'm technically covered all the way back to 9/1/26 (and could go to doctors and Medicare would pay starting then)? So there's not really any reason to apply earlier? If I apply on 3/1/27 with coverage effective back to 9/1/26, then could my contribution limit would be 8 months out of 12, rather than 5 months out of 12?
Thanks again. This topic is super complicated!
