Have your Part B and Part D premiums gone up this year? It could be IRMAA’s fault.
Membership in the higher-income level has its privileges, but getting lower Medicare rates isn’t one of them.
If you received a letter from Social Security saying your Medicare premiums are going up in 2023, chances are you received the IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount) notice. You’re being notified that you’ll be paying an extra amount for your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums.
Looking on the bright side – you’re in the 8% of Medicare beneficiaries that earn enough to be receiving an IRMAA notification. And you can thank your friends at the IRS for letting the Social Security Administration know what your income is so you can be penalized for your success
The IRS provides your tax return from two years ago to Social Security, who for this year, would look at your 2021 adjusted gross income (AGI). Based on that, the. amount of your IRMAA is calculated.
Sound familiar? It’s been happening throughout your working life in the form of income taxes. – the more you make, the more you pay.
But, what if you’re earning less now than you did two years ago because of a change in your job or you’ve retired? If that’s the case, Social Security has an appeal process where you can ask them to reconsider your IRMAA based on your current income or other factors, such as getting married or divorced, being widowed, losing income producing property, and more.
Depending upon who you talk to at Social Security or who reads your appeal, IRMAA can be overturned. And, in general, the folks at the Social Security office are fair and want to help.
Understanding the appeal process can get a bit tricky. You can read about it here.
