The Health Savings Account is the only account in the tax code with a triple tax advantage, and the only one that shuts off permanently because of a decision most people make for unrelated reasons. A bill referred to the House Ways and Means Committee on August 10 would change that — but the fix is not free, and the price is written into two subsections almost nobody is reading.
Current Law Keys Off "Entitled," Not "Enrolled"
IRC §223(b)(7) is unusually blunt. The contribution limit "shall be zero for the first month such individual is entitled to benefits under title XVIII of the Social Security Act and for each month thereafter."
Two words matter. Entitled is not enrolled — and thereafter is permanent. There is no partial-year proration back, no re-qualification if you later drop coverage.
Entitlement to Part A by reason of age arrives under §226(a) of the Social Security Act, which reaches anyone 65 or older who is entitled to Social Security retirement benefits — or who "would be entitled to those benefits except that he has not filed an application therefor." In practice, claiming Social Security at or after 65 attaches Part A entitlement, and §223(b)(7) then zeroes the HSA limit for the rest of your life. A 67-year-old still working, still covered by a qualifying high-deductible plan, and still facing deductibles is barred from funding the account built for exactly that situation.
What H.R. 10072 Actually Does
The Hardworking Seniors Act, introduced by Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7), carries the official title "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals entitled to Medicare Part A to make contributions to health savings accounts."
Its mechanism is narrow and elegant. Section 223(c)(1)(B) lists disregarded coverage — things that do not destroy HSA eligibility, currently permitted insurance; accidents, disability, dental, vision, long-term care, and telehealth; and certain flexible spending arrangements. The bill adds a clause (iv): "entitlement to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act by reason of section 226(a) of such Act," with a conforming carve-out inserted into §223(b)(7).
Note the limit of that cross-reference. Only §226(a) — entitlement by reason of age — would be disregarded. Part A entitlement based on disability or end-stage renal disease would remain disqualifying.
The Two Benefits It Quietly Removes
Subsections (b) and (c) of the bill are where the trade sits, and both turn on whether you are an "eligible individual" — a status §223(c)(1) determines month by month.
Tax-free Medicare premiums. Under §223(d)(2)(C)(iv), once you reach the age specified in §1811, HSA dollars can pay "any health insurance other than a medicare supplemental policy" — Part B, Part D, and Medicare Advantage premiums, tax-free. The bill inserts "and who is not an eligible individual." Keep contributing, and that use disappears.
The age-65 penalty exemption. Section 223(f)(4)(A) imposes a 20% additional tax on distributions not used for qualified medical expenses; §223(f)(4)(C) waives it after you attain the §1811 age. That waiver is what makes an HSA behave like a second IRA in retirement. The bill prefixes it with "Except in the case of an eligible individual."
So the bill does not hand working seniors a new benefit on top of the old ones. It offers a choice: contribute, or retain the two features that make a mature HSA flexible.
Practical Takeaways
- Nothing has changed yet. The bill sits at committee referral with no further action recorded. Its amendments would apply only to months beginning after December 31, 2026. Current law governs your 2026 contributions.
- Your claiming date is the lever you control. Because entitlement under §226(a) requires both age 65 and Social Security entitlement, delaying a retirement claim is what keeps HSA eligibility alive for a worker past 65 — the HSA consequence belongs in the claiming decision, not after it.
- Front-load before entitlement attaches. The 2026 limits are $4,400 self-only and $8,750 family, plus a $1,000 catch-up at 55. Months after entitlement are worth zero, so the contribution years before 65 are the only ones you get.
- If it passes, model it, don't assume it. A saver planning to reimburse years of Part B premiums from an HSA may lose more than a few years of contributions would add.
A related measure, H.R. 548, the HSA Modernization Act, remains at referral from January 2025 — a reminder of how far an introduced HSA bill usually travels.
Sources: H.R. 10072, 119th Congress, 2d Session, "Hardworking Seniors Act" (introduced August 10, 2026); IRC §223(b)(7), §223(c)(1)(B), §223(d)(2)(C), §223(f)(4); Social Security Act §226(a), §1811 (42 U.S.C. §426(a)); IRS, 2026 HSA contribution limits; House Committee on Ways and Means referral, August 10, 2026