I received my IRMAA increase, Arrgh!

[GrayHare]

Probably, but to know for sure you need to know what the surcharge is (I've never seen the formula) as well as what your future meds will be.

 

[hausfrau]

Yes, sign up for the cheapest plan to start. Wellcare is offering $0 for 2024. You can change each year as your needs change and as part D plans change their formularies. Part D open enrollment is Oct 15 until Dec 7 for the following year.

Good to know- thank you! BTW, only last year did I even know about IRMAA and the extra 65+ tax deduction. It makes me wonder what else I don't know about.

 

[cranberryjoe]

I started on Medicare earlier this year, and qualified to be in one of the higher IRMAA brackets. The first bills were very confusing. Nothing added up to what I expected. The first bill covering the first 3 months did not include any IRMAA charges at all despite having previously gotten a letter with my IRMAA information. It looked like maybe they forgot about IRMAA for me. Then I got a whopper of a bill for 3 months of IRMAA B and D. After that, my bills settled down to just what I owe each month, IRMAA included.

Since my income was fairly close to the cliff (not $1 over but over by an amount within my control via Roth conversions), next year I will engineer it to be in the next lower bracket. Got my copy of H&R Block today to start playing what ifs.

 

[Rico]

Question for anyone who has experienced fluctuations in income and resulting IRMAA penalties in the past:
If there is a drop in income for a given calendar year, does the IRS automatically monitor this and recalculate the IRMAA reduction for the subsequent year? Or is it on me to call and advise?
I'm still limping from a max IRMAA hit in 2023. Thx

 

[MissMolly]

Question for anyone who has experienced fluctuations in income and resulting IRMAA penalties in the past:
If there is a drop in income for a given calendar year, does the IRS automatically monitor this and recalculate the IRMAA reduction for the subsequent year? Or is it on me to call and advise?
I'm still limping from a max IRMAA hit in 2023. Thx

It is automatically recalculated every year based on your income taxes filed two years prior.

 

[audreyh1]

I started on Medicare earlier this year, and qualified to be in one of the higher IRMAA brackets. The first bills were very confusing. Nothing added up to what I expected. The first bill covering the first 3 months did not include any IRMAA charges at all despite having previously gotten a letter with my IRMAA information. It looked like maybe they forgot about IRMAA for me. Then I got a whopper of a bill for 3 months of IRMAA B and D. After that, my bills settled down to just what I owe each month, IRMAA included.

Since my income was fairly close to the cliff (not $1 over but over by an amount within my control via Roth conversions), next year I will engineer it to be in the next lower bracket. Got my copy of H&R Block today to start playing what ifs.

Correct - on initial billing, they don’t charge you for IRMAA at first. That comes later. You initially pay for just the Medicare part B premium. People are billed for three months at a time unless they are on IRMAA in which case it is monthly. So it does take a little while to settle out.

 

[2retireearly]

part D

That brings up a question I never thought of.

Do those who haven’t opted for a Part D plan have to pay the IRMAA Part D penalty too? We have a Part D plan with WellCare so I never thought about it.

When I had an IRMAA letter, a few years ago, (I was able to get out of it..by filling in form, etc, and boring Soc Sec with so many details...but got it reduced to $0, but that's another subject ), I thought, ha ha, I just won't sign up for a part D. My part D, had been $7, but they really stick it to you and charge you the average cost of a part D, and then the 2 times that (or
1.5...or whatever). The point is, they don't use your actual charge of $7, in the calculation, but $35. So, as I was saying, I thought, I just will skip having part D for a year or so, then add it later. DO NOT EVER do this ! If you decide to not have part D and then later decide to have it, in a year or so, your charge will ALWAYS for the rest of your life be the average charge of $35 (vs $7 or whatever) PLUS penalties for adding it late, for the rest of your life. They really want you to have Part D starting at 65 (which makes sense actuarially...law of large numbers).

My bottom line though, is I was able to get out of IRMAA, by filling in the form, and submitting it to Soc Sec. At that time, during the Pandemic, I couldn't meet with them in person, but my thick envelope of additional info and the projection of what my actual income will be, and what my actual income had been for a few years prior, and a summary of why my income went 'up' was all I needed to get the amount to zero.

But if one can't get out of it, still, NEVER drop your Part D.
And more to the original poster, I'm not sure why your part D hasn't covered your RX drugs. Mine cuts the cost down considerably, so even with a deductible, I pay about $5 for some Rx vs $40-$90. But make sure you give the Pharmacy your part D drug card! Not your Medicare Card .

 

[Lvus101]

In 2022 I made a big mistake and made a large withdrawal at the beginning of the years and then another one at the end of the year, not realizing I had made the first withdrawal. I had been taking next years income at the end of each year, still haven't made sense of what I did.

I just received notice from SSA about my IRMMA increase. The form says,


"If you have medicare part B, the total 2024 premium includes:
-- $174.70 for the standard Medicare premium, plus
-- any surcharges you may owe for late enrollment, plus
--$279.50 for the Medicare Part B IRMAA based on you 2022 income tax return."


Does that really mean I owe $174.70 + $279.50 = $454.20 every month for the next 12 months?
Shoot me now!

Your Medicare page online will tell you exactly what you will owe after your deductible.

 

[marko]

Just got my notification early this morning and went online to check. Did you know that the SS website (mysocialsecurity.gov) isn't "open" 24/7??! It said on Sundays come back between 8 am and 11 pm! It's also "closed" late every night after 1am until 5am.

What? The website has office hours?

 

[vdesalvo]

Medicare Payment

Yep, in the process myself sending in SSA-44 for correction. Retired middle of this year (2023) and did SSA-44 for the correction since I was way up there with my 2022 salary. Medicare corrected my cost knowing 2023 will be less. Well that letter came my way yesterday and as you know it I will need to send in another SSA-44, AGAIN, to correct my amount again for life changing event(retirement).

 

[ychuck46]

Does that really mean I owe $174.70 + $279.50 = $454.20 every month for the next 12 months?
Shoot me now!

Does that mean you owe that much? Absolutely. Welcome to IRMAA hell, courtesy of the Feds. We just had the IRMAA taken out for all of 2023 from BOTH my wife and my SS checks for BOTH parts A and D, and have the pleasure of paying it again for all of 2024 before I did enough to get a break in 2025. That means besides the normal Medicare premium every month, we will have had the pleasure of paying an extra $14K+ total for 2023-24, just because I busted my hump and made a few $ in the market. Someone has to pay the bills of those who won't.

 

[Time2]

When I had an IRMAA letter, a few years ago, (I was able to get out of it..by filling in form, etc, and boring Soc Sec with so many details...but got it reduced to $0

My bottom line though, is I was able to get out of IRMAA, by filling in the form, and submitting it to Soc Sec. At that time, during the Pandemic, I couldn't meet with them in person, but my thick envelope of additional info and the projection of what my actual income will be, and what my actual income had been for a few years prior, and a summary of why my income went 'up' was all I needed to get the amount to zero.

Did you have a better reason for your income going up than, "I made double withdrawals"?

 

[dmpi]

Just got my notification early this morning and went online to check. Did you know that the SS website (mysocialsecurity.gov) isn't "open" 24/7??! It said on Sundays come back between 8 am and 11 pm! It's also "closed" late every night after 1am until 5am.

What? The website has office hours?

That's true. I was surprised too. My thinking was they don't want to be hacked off hours with nobody to being able to respond. This kind of thing certainly wouldn't cut it in the private sector.

 

[mickeyd]

I just received notice from SSA about my IRMMA increase

Welcome to the wealthy club.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just got my notification early this morning and went online to check. Did you know that the SS website (mysocialsecurity.gov) isn't "open" 24/7??! It said on Sundays come back between 8 am and 11 pm! It's also "closed" late every night after 1am until 5am.

What? The website has office hours?

When I worked in IT years ago, we often ran updates and maintenance software starting on Saturday night. The idea was to not run these items Mon-Friday when the system was most being used all over the country.

However, these were ancient computers, mostly likely built while hunting saber tooth tigers for food, and avoiding attack from the Troglodytes. Modern equipment may no longer have such limitations.

 

[wmc1000]

For 2023 filing year we will find ourselves in Tier 2. Planning on that costing us an extra $720 per mo. combined for Part B and Part D on a couple in 2025.

Don't like it but we are not complaining, and it will only be for 2025 before it returns to base price again.

 

[Family]

Regarding IRMAA: Apparently if your income is dramatically reduced (retirement, divorce, work stoppage) you can appeal for a lower Medicare Part B rate per this article. https://www.myfederalretirement.com/2021-medicare-b-premiums/

 

[marko]

Just got both of our letters. We dropped a bracket!! Mo' Money!

Sorry for those who went up a bracket...better luck next year. I'm pretty sure we'll go back up for 2025 (new swimming pool expense this year wreaked havoc with the IRA).

 

[aaronc879]

Just got both of our letters. We dropped a bracket!! Mo' Money!

Sorry for those who went up a bracket...better luck next year. I'm pretty sure we'll go back up for 2025 (new swimming pool expense this year wreaked havoc with the IRA).

How is it a bad thing to go p a bracket? It means you have more money. I wish I could go up several brackets for life.

 

[marko]

How is it a bad thing to go up a bracket? It means you have more money. I wish I could go up several brackets for life.

I have the same amount of money (and somewhat more). I just didn't withdraw as much last year from the IRA.

 

[audreyh1]

It really just comes down to managing taxable income, just like for ACA.

 

[dmpi]

It really just comes down to managing taxable income, just like for ACA.

It's just another constraint in an already extremely complex subject of trying to minimize your overall taxes over ones lifetime.

 

[ARW44]

Social Security letter arrived today.

 

[marko]

Just got both of our letters. We dropped a bracket!! Mo' Money!

.

And, not only did we drop a bracket, we're up an additional $88 (total) per month as we moved from our current Part D provider to $0 Wellcare!

 

[marko]

It's just another constraint in an already extremely complex subject of trying to minimize your overall taxes over ones lifetime.

That's why accountants drive nice cars.