Medicare Part A FAQs

• For the majority of people, Medicare Part A is provided at no monthly premium.

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• Simply put, Medicare Part A provides coverage for hospitalization services, rehabilitative care in a facility (up to 100 days in a nursing home after a hospital stay of at least 3 days)
• Click here for more information on Medicare Part A coverage.

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To qualify for Part A, you must meet the following:

• You already get retirement benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board.
• You’re eligible to get Social Security or Railroad benefits but haven’t filed for them yet.
• You or your spouse had Medicare-covered government employment.
• It is extremely rare that someone would have to pay a premium for Part A.

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• If you are still working and have an HSA compatible program, enrollment into Part A (which is automatic and unavoidable if you start drawing SS benefits) will negate the ability to contribute to the HSA.
• For example, if you are working fulltime and turn 65 in January, you can delay enrollment into Medicare A and still contribute to your HSA account.
• However, if you elect to draw monthly benefits and are automatically enrolled into Part A, (or you accidentally enroll into Medicare Part A because of all the misinformation about turning 65) you are no longer eligible to contribute to the HSA account.
• With the popularity of HSA plans at work, along with people working past 65, this is something that is becoming more of a common “mistake” so we suggest speaking with a professional to make sure you are guided properly!

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• Assuming you do not have an HSA compatible plan at work, you can enroll in Part A in under 5 minutes at www.ssa.gov.

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• A person wouldn’t really modify Medicare Part A during the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (which runs from 10/15 – 12/7) since Medicare Part A is a required component of all Medicare supplements, Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage programs.
• For example, switching from a Medicare Supplement program to Medicare Advantage would not change the requirement of maintaining Medicare Part A coverage.

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• Under rare circumstances, Medicare Part A can be canceled.

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