Around seven percent of people with Part B pay a special Medicare monthly surcharge that can dramatically increase their premiums. The surcharge is known as an Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount or IRMAA.
IRMAA is Medicare’s extra fee for high-income beneficiaries, enacted by Congress in 2003 and expanded in 2011. The IRMAA surcharge is based on the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of a Medicare beneficiary, which is the total of the beneficiary’s gross income and tax-exempt interest-less retirement account contributions and alimony.
The IRMAA surcharge may be eliminated or reduced if you show that your modified adjusted gross income was wrong or if you prove you had one of eight “life-changing events” that lowered your income.
They are:
– Marriage
– Divorce or annulment
– Death of your spouse
– Work stoppage
– Work reduction
– Involuntary loss of income-producing property
– Loss of pension income
To get an IRMAA redetermination, you can file a Social Security SSA-44 form or schedule an appointment with the agency.