For years, insurance agents have advised their Medicare-eligible clients who are still working and covered under their employer’s group health plan to decline Medicare Part B. There is a monthly premium for Part B coverage, and since the group plan is primary for companies with 20 or more employees, enrolling in Part B is unlikely to provide much additional protection.

These employees, their brokers explain, can simply enroll in Part B when they retire with no penalty and no waiting period since they are coming off of a group insurance plan. Part A, though, is a different story. By the time they reach age 65, most people have paid into the Medicare system for long enough to receive Part A at no charge — why not take it if it’s free?

The reason, of course, is that enrollment in either Part A or Part B of Medicare makes an individual who’s covered by an HSA-qualified high deductible health plan ineligible to contribute to a health savings account. As a result, some brokers are now recommending that, in addition to Part B, their clients also postpone enrollment in Medicare Part A.