Toni King: Can I use my Health Savings Account card to pay my Medicare premium?

By Toni King | Originally posted on CNHI News

Dear Toni:

My Medicare starts Oct. 1 and I received my first bill, due on Sept. 25, about a week ago. This bill is for three months (Oct. 1-Dec. 31) and is over $525. I currently have more than $10,000 on my Health Savings Account (HSA) debit card through my past employer, and I was wondering if Medicare will accept payments made with an HSA debit card.

I am not at my full retirement age; I still work and make more than Social Security allows without having to pay a penalty. So I can’t start my Social Security check so that my Medicare premium can be deducted monthly. How can I pay that premium amount by the due date? Hoping your answer will make this Medicare situation less stressful.

Janice from Little Rock, Arkansas

Hello Janice:

I have good news for you because Medicare offers four ways to pay your premium online and having an HSA account is one of them. Janice, you should open a www.medicare.gov account since you are not receiving your Social Security check. The ways of paying are using an HSA card, a credit/debit card or an ACH debit from your checking or savings account. Medicare’s payment service is free.

Once you open your Medicare account at www.medicare.gov you can arrange to pay your bill using your HSA, credit/debit card or bank account by clicking on the box “Pay my premium” under “What do you want to do?” To have your Medicare Part B premium set up to be paid on a monthly basis, visit “Medicare.gov Easy Pay” and elect monthly payments. It takes about 6-8 weeks for the Medicare Easy Pay form to process. Be sure that you keep up with your monthly premiums, so your Medicare Parts A and B are not terminated before the Easy Pay form is activated.

Readers, I urge everyone on Medicare to stay current with your Medicare premium. By missing a premium payment, Medicare beneficiaries can lose their benefits and may be charged a penalty when they re-enroll.