Does Medicare Come Out of SS?

[SoReadyToRetire]

For those already over 65, how do you pay for Medicare? Does it get deducted automatically from your Social Security check (assuming you get one)?

And more importantly, how much does it cost? Is the cost income-based, or the same for everyone?

It's really really hard to project future expenses without this kind of basic information.

When I was younger, I always thought Medicare was "free". Ha.

 

[Walt34]

Yes, Medicare is automatically deducted from your SS payment. If, like me, you start SS after starting Medicare at 65 (I started SS at 66) they will send you a bill for $406.50 every three months.

 

[W2R]

I assume you are talking about Medicare Part B.

Medicare Part B costs $135.50 unless your income is over a certain amount, and above that it goes up in several steps. Here's the info on how much it costs at various income levels:

https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2019-medicare-parts-b-premiums-and-deductibles

My Medicare Part B is automatically deducted from my SS deposit. Before I was on SS, I had to send them the money. I think you can do that by check, credit card, or automatic bank deduction. I didn't have a credit card back then and TBH I don't remember if I paid by check, debit card, or automatic bank deduction but I definitely paid. I dunno, probably by check. Anyway I kept paying until I was sure that it was being deducted from my SS deposit, and they sent me a refund right away for the one month's double payment.

 

[travelover]

And the last part is that Medicare only pays 80% and not for drugs, so most of us have a supplemental policy to cover the last 20% and for drugs. Costs for those policies vary and you can get quotes on line and maybe from your own state's website.


Feel free to so a search here - this topic has been discussed extensively.

 

[Walt34]

Oh, one other thought - if you have an HSA account you can pay Medicare premiums out of that with no penalties.

 

[audreyh1]

About Medicare Premium Billing before you draw SS:

I noticed a statement that if you are subject to the IRMAA higher premiums (part B and part D), the Medicare.gov site states you will receive a monthly bill? As opposed to quarterly?

I see the options for EasyPay, etc. Looks like if you get a bill you can pay by credit card by entering your info? But EasyPay is draft checking or savings account only.

Do you get some other statements that show how much you paid in Medicare Premiums per year, etc.?

Looks like Billpay to Medicare.gov directly from the Fidelity HSA Account should take care of most of the documentation requirements. That will be nice.

 

[GrayHare]

For a tax year in which one receives SS benefits, the SSA sends form SSA-1099 that shows both the SS benefit amount plus the amounts subtracted for Medicare. I do not know if SSA also sends this form if one starts Medicare before starting SS benefits.

 

[audreyh1]

Doesn't Medicare also send out at least an annual statement if not a quarterly one?

Maybe only if you have ongoing medical claims?

 

[ChrisC]

For a tax year in which one receives SS benefits, the SSA sends form SSA-1099 that shows both the SS benefit amount plus the amounts subtracted for Medicare. I do not know if SSA also sends this form if one starts Medicare before starting SS benefits.

No, in view of our experience. Before DW went on SS benefits (spousal benefits under a restricted application), she started Medicare Part B and received a billing statement from Medicare, in which she could pay for her Part B premiums by check or credit card, quarterly or annually. We're subject to the higher Part B premiums under IRMAA. Once you go on SS retirement or spousal benefits (or Federal pension payments), Medicare Part B premiums are deducted from your stream of SS retirement or Federal pension payments.

When DW went on SS benefits, the SSA-1099 given for the tax year shows the amount of Part B premiums deducted from SS benefit income. In our case, her SS benefit amount is lower than the Medicare Part B payment amount so the SSA-1099 shows SS benefit amount = Medicare Part B payment.

For the last few November/December of each year, SS/Medicare (CMS) sends us a statement of our Medicare Part B payments for the next year as well as the amount DW owes after Medicare Part B premiums are deducted from her SS benefits. CMS tells us to send a check for the difference for the next year's coverage (don't know why they don't take a credit card payment from us as was the case before DW went on SS spousal benefits). We sent in the check in December and SS/Medicare just recently deposited/cashed it.

We have HSA accounts and keep running totals of our Medicare Part B payments (including those deducted from SS benefits) to which we will later reimburse ourselves along with reimbursing our other health insurance premiums post 65 years old. It can get complicated. I'm not on Medicare Part B, just Part A, so I don't have to worry about this complication for me -- just for DW.

 

[MichaelL]

I got a bill for Part B and paid it in January. I was waiting for SS to start and didn't know about it being deducted. I got a call from a SS admin about my application and they told me that Part B would be deducted. I told them that I had just paid for 3 months and asked if they could wait to deduct. They told me that they could not but that I'd be refunded for my payment. It's 2 months later and no refund and no reply to my letter asking for the refund. I'm still waiting to see what happens.

 

[ivinsfan]

I got a bill for Part B and paid it in January. I was waiting for SS to start and didn't know about it being deducted. I got a call from a SS admin about my application and they told me that Part B would be deducted. I told them that I had just paid for 3 months and asked if they could wait to deduct. They told me that they could not but that I'd be refunded for my payment. It's 2 months later and no refund and no reply to my letter asking for the refund. I'm still waiting to see what happens.

As a helpful note to anyone reading, have your Medicare payments drawn monthly from your checking. MY DH and I both did this, we got our first SS money deposited at the end of Feb and the switch over for Medicare was seamless for both of us.

 

[MichaelL]

As a helpful note to anyone reading, have your Medicare payments drawn monthly from your checking. MY DH and I both did this, we got our first SS money deposited at the end of Feb and the switch over for Medicare was seamless for both of us.

I was not offered a choice. They sent me bills that I had to pay or get cut off. They took out the Medicare from my SS even though I had paid it.

 

[ivinsfan]

I was not offered a choice. They sent me bills that I had to pay or get cut off. They took out the Medicare from my SS even though I had paid it.

Sorry that's not accurate, with your first bill they send instructions on how to set up auto-pay. We did it for both myself and my DH...I went on Medicare 10/31 and immediately did the auto pay form and it was all setup before my next payment was due.

I was careful to do this because I knew I'd be claiming my SS in early 2019 and didn't want any mixups. You'll get your money back but it would have been faster and easier if you were on autopay.

 

[W2R]

I was not offered a choice. They sent me bills that I had to pay or get cut off. They took out the Medicare from my SS even though I had paid it.

Don't worry, they'll refund it! At least, they did for me. Like you, I continued to pay it by check until I was getting SS and could see it being deducted from SS.

In my case, I went on SS when I turned 66 in June, 2014 and I got my refund on 9/11/2014. So, about 3 months.

 

[GrayHare]

There's a bizarre tax quirk when ones pays or reimburses Medicare premiums from an HSA. If you efile your taxes, most tax software (Turbotax is one) requires you to list Medicare premiums on Schedule A. By listing the premiums on Sched A you are including them as a tax deduction, even if doing so does not change the tax you pay. Items for which you take a tax deduction do not qualify to be paid with HSA money. The only workaround I know is to manually remove Medicare premiums from Sched A and override the software, which prevents one from efiling.

 

[ivinsfan]

Don't worry, they'll refund it! At least, they did for me. Like you, I continued to pay it by check until I was getting SS and could see it being deducted from SS.

In my case, I went on SS when I turned 66 in June, 2014 and I got my refund on 9/11/2014. So, about 3 months.

So I had an auto pay taken from my account the first of Feb...got my first SS deposit on 2/27 with a Feb premium deducted, so a double payment.. I got my refund check and my DH got his refund check in the mail today. Around 4 weeks from start to finish. Use auto pay, I didn't need to send any letters or make any phone calls and got my money back faster. I don't know why you wouldn't use auto-pay the minute you get an SS check they have all your banking info anyway.

 

[MichaelL]

So I had an auto pay taken from my account the first of Feb...got my first SS deposit on 2/27 with a Feb premium deducted, so a double payment.. I got my refund check and my DH got his refund check in the mail today. Around 4 weeks from start to finish. Use auto pay, I didn't need to send any letters or make any phone calls and got my money back faster. I don't know why you wouldn't use auto-pay the minute you get an SS check they have all your banking info anyway.

I don't see the benefit of auto pay if you got a double pay anyway. I didn't say that I had to send a letter. I just did it as a precaution. The administrator told me that I'd get a refund automatically.

I'm not a fan of autopay. It can be a pain to turn off. When my mother died I spent a lot of time getting her autopays cancelled.

 

[MichaelL]

Don't worry, they'll refund it! At least, they did for me. Like you, I continued to pay it by check until I was getting SS and could see it being deducted from SS.

In my case, I went on SS when I turned 66 in June, 2014 and I got my refund on 9/11/2014. So, about 3 months.

That's good to know. Thanks. I'll wait another month and see what happens.

 

[Major Tom]

All this talk of Social Security - y'all are making me envious. I can't wait to begin claiming mine!

 

[ivinsfan]

I don't see the benefit of auto pay if you got a double pay anyway. I didn't say that I had to send a letter. I just did it as a precaution. The administrator told me that I'd get a refund automatically.

I'm not a fan of autopay. It can be a pain to turn off. When my mother died I spent a lot of time getting her autopays cancelled.

Yes but you did send the letter and if you can't see the difference between having only one month double auto pay and getting the money within 4 weeks, compared to calling, writing and complaining that you still don't have your money, I can't help you. You didn't want to autopay and got stuck with more work and 3 months for a refund, nothing is perfect.

My comment about auto-pay was for people reading this and looking for an easier way.

 

[MichaelL]

Yes but you did send the letter and if you can't see the difference between having only one month double auto pay and getting the money within 4 weeks, compared to calling, writing and complaining that you still don't have your money, I can't help you. You didn't want to autopay and got stuck with more work and 3 months for a refund, nothing is perfect.

My comment about auto-pay was for people reading this and looking for an easier way.

My comment was for people who are too prompt in paying their bills like me. If I had waited a few more days to pay this would not have happened. I can wait for the money, it's not like I need it to live on or anything.

 

[ivinsfan]

My comment was for people who are too prompt in paying their bills like me. If I had waited a few more days to pay this would not have happened. I can wait for the money, it's not like I need it to live on or anything.

That's too bad but the money will come, it's not worth getting worked up about.

 

[Crabby Mike]

I chose to auto-pay via a "push" from my bank rather than a "pull" from CMS (Medicare). I felt I had more control over the payments that way, and it was quicker and easier to set up through my bank (a couple of minutes online) than through CMS. I cancelled my payments after last month's went through, and will get my first Social Security deposit, less Medicare payments, later this month. I've already received the letter spelling out both my SS amount and the Medicare adjustments.


Also note, if you are subject to IRMAA, you will have a surcharge both for Part B and Part D, if you choose to get it.

 

[W2R]

All this talk of Social Security - y'all are making me envious. I can't wait to begin claiming mine!

And rightly so!!! It's like a dream come true, at least for me. I never thought it would actually materialize, and now it shows up in my checking account "magically" every month.