Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Medicare

Medicare Made Simple, LLC

Theresa Cangemi CSA, CLTC

Office: 315-676-4933

Fax: 866-476-1211

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The Medicare Lady

November, 2017

Greetings!

The purpose of this newsletter is to also to bring you INTERESTING current industry news that give insight to questions and concerns of

those "aging-in" to Medicare.

With 10,000 people aging-in to Medicare every day, this is a HOT topic.

Let’s stay together!

I would like to stay “top of mind” when a Medicare question or plan change is needed during the Annual Enrollment Period or when leaving group health insurance. You will also find great nutritional information here and maybe some recipes too. If looking for dental insurance, long term care coverage, final expense life insurance, or travel insurance coverage ..... please contact me.

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Theresa Cangemi CSA, CLTC

The Medicare Lady

Insurance Corner

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Medicare

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are accounts for individuals with high deductible health plans (HDHPs). Funds contributed to an HSA are not taxed when put into the HSA or when taken out, as long as they are used to pay for qualified medical expenses.

If you have an HSA and you will soon be eligible for Medicare, it is important to understand how enrolling in Medicare will affect your HSA.

High deductible health plans

In order to qualify to put money into an HSA, you must be enrolled in a high deductible health plan. HDHPs have costly deductibles that members must meet before receiving coverage.

Enrolling in Medicare when you have an HSA

If you enroll in Medicare Part A and/or B, you can no longer contribute pre-tax dollars to your HSA. This is because to contribute pre-tax dollars to an HSA you cannot have any health insurance other than a HDHP. The month your Medicare begins, your account overseer should switch the contributing balance to your HSA to zero dollars per month.

Whether you should delay enrollment in Medicare so you can continue contributing to your HSA depends on your circumstances:

If you work for an employer with fewer than 20 employees, you may need Medicare in order to have primary insurance, even though you will lose the tax advantages of your HSA.
Health care coverage from an employer with 20 or more employees pays primary to Medicare, so you may choose to delay

If you choose to delay Medicare enrollment because you are still working and want to continue contributing to your HSA, you must also wait to collect Social Security retirement benefits.

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Health Corner

The British Medical Journal recently published a large analysis involving 10 million people. They found regular use of painkillers like ibuprofen raised the risk of heart failure by 20% and that the risk increases with the amount you take. In some cases, the chance of being hospitalized for heart failure doubled with a higher dose.

The FDA has taken notice in how serious these risks are like elevated risks of stroke and heart failure, and has strengthened the warning label on NSAIDs.

Vitamin D may seem like old news. But every day, researchers are discovering more and more ways it affects our health.Vitamin D helps build strong bones and teeth. It reduces your risk of arthritis, depression, diabetes and cancer.

A new study from Finland shows that vitamin D is an effective way to prevent chronic headaches. Researchers followed 2,600 patients for five years. Nearly 70% were vitamin D deficient. At the end of the study, they determined that the patients with the lowest vitamin D levels had at least two times the number of headaches as those with the highest vitamin D levels.

It makes sense. Vitamin D is a strong anti-inflammatory without the side effects. But still, more than 90% of people get too little.

To boost levels, get out in the midday sun for at least 15 minutes a day. You need between 8,000 and 10,000 IUs of vitamin D. And along with eating vitamin D-rich foods like wild salmon, mackerel and sardines, be sure it’s vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol . That’s the kind your own body produces. Avoid the synthetic vitamin D2. What’s recommended is 2,000 IUs in the morning.

*THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO CURE OR REPLACE YOUR CURRENT MEDICAL TREATMENT.

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Email Me

Office: 315.676.4933

PO Box 757

Brewerton, NY US 13029

Office: 315-676-4933

tcangemi@twcny.rr.com