I am age 62. At retirement, my employer opened a "retirement HRA" (not a limited-purpose HRA) for me and funded it. I still have the HDHP and also an HSA that was funded before retirement. Am I allowed to fund my HSA, on my own, until age 65? I believe not, based on page 5 of IRS pub 969 and page 5 of IRS revenue ruling 2004-45 for Section 223, but would like other opinions. It appears to not be entirely clear. Thank you.
I should have added to my question: Am I missing something? If you can, please direct me to a citation that says I can contribute. Thank you.
You are correct, you can’t make new contributions to an HSA unless you are covered by a qualifying HDHP and no “other” coverage. The HRA counts as other coverage and disqualifies you from contributing to an HSA.
I believe the HRA must be renewed each year. Any unspent funds in the HRA may roll over to the next year or may be returned to the employer but can not be distributed to you for any reason except reimbursement of qualified medical costs. If you declined to participate in the next plan year—and you are still covered by a qualifying HDHP—you could resume HSA contributions.
Please refer to publication 969. It appears that you would be eligible to continue contributing to your HSA because the HRA is only for retirement. This of course depends on if you are currently retired or not.
Opus17, please stop telling people they can't have HRAs with HSAs. I have seen this response on several posts now and it is misleading people. It is true that MOST HRAs are not compatible with HSAs, but it depends on the type of HRA. Having an HRA doesn't automatically disqualify you from contributing to an HSA. It's all about the details...