How to Lower a Medicare IRMAA Surcharge After You Retire

A letter from Social Security says the Medicare Part B premium is several hundred dollars a month rather than the standard amount, and the letter is not a mistake. Social Security sets the extra charge from the modified adjusted gross income on the tax return from two years ago, which is the most recent return the IRS has shared with it. The wrong assumption is that you have to wait for the lag to catch up with the fact that you stopped working. You do not. Ask for a new decision on the current year instead.

Check which tax year set the charge

Find the year the letter names. For 2026 premiums that is the 2024 return. Above $109,000 filing individually or $218,000 filing jointly, an income-related monthly adjustment amount is added to the standard premium. As of September 2026 the Part B total runs from $202.90 a month at the standard rate to $689.90 in the top band, and the Part D surcharge adds $14.50 to $91.00 a month on top of whatever the drug plan itself charges.

Confirm the event is one of the eight

Social Security recognizes eight life-changing events: death of a spouse, marriage, divorce or annulment, work reduction, work stoppage, loss of income-producing property, loss of an employer pension, and receipt of a settlement payment from an employer. The event has to come before the drop in income, and the drop has to be large enough to reduce or remove the surcharge for the tax year in question.

Gather both kinds of proof before you file

Two things are needed, not one. Bring evidence that the event happened, and more recent or more accurate tax information for the year at issue. Where no return has been filed yet for that year, an estimate of the income you expect is accepted, attested under penalty of perjury.

File Form SSA-44 and ask for a new initial determination

The form is Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount Life Changing Event, numbered SSA-44. Social Security's policy manual treats use of the form as optional, so a request made by telephone or at an office counts, but the form puts the answers in the order a claims representative works through. Social Security publishes the request route on its page for lowering an IRMAA, linked below. Its national number is 1-800-772-1213, and 1-800-325-0778 for TTY.

Send the evidence within 30 days

This is the part that costs people the reduction. Social Security allows 30 days from the date of the request to produce the documents, and may grant a 90-day extension if you ask. Ask before the 30 days run out, not after.

If the event is not one of the eight. A loss on investments, a rise in expenses, the end of child support, and a property sale you chose to make are all named as events that do not qualify. In those cases the charge stands until the two-year lag clears on its own.

If the tax figure itself looks wrong. A request for a new decision and an appeal can be filed at the same time, as long as you are still inside the appeal period.

If a bill arrives from Medicare. Keep paying it while the request is pending. Medicare begins mailing the next year's bills in December, the extra amount is owed to Medicare rather than to the drug plan, and Part D coverage ends if it goes unpaid. Switching plans during Medicare open enrollment does not move this charge, because Social Security sets it and the plan does not.

Sources. Social Security POMS HI 01120.001, new initial determinations, Social Security POMS HI 01120.005, life changing events, Social Security, request to lower an IRMAA, CMS fact sheet 11579, 2026 Medicare costs, CMS fact sheet 11469, how income affects your Medicare drug coverage premiums.