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Medicare’s IRMAA

By March 29, 2015October 7th, 2022No Comments

Within Medicare if you are earning too much in retirement will be subject to higher premiums than others through its Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount or IRMAA.

What is it?

As defined by Medicare: “If you have higher income, the law requires an adjustment to your monthly Medicare Part B (medical insurance) and Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums (Part D). Higher-income beneficiaries pay higher premiums for Part B and prescription drug coverage.

Layman’s terms: If you make too much income in retirement you will be hit with a surcharge on top of your existing Medicare Part B and Part D premiums.

When was this created?

The rule was created through the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 which first established an extra surcharge on just Medicare Part B premiums. By 2010, with the passing the of the Affordable Care Act, Part D was also included and the official name of the surcharge was changed to what is now known as the Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA).

Who will this affect?

Currently, the brackets are as follows:

 

 

Which income will Medicare’s IRMAA use?

Under the guidelines of IRMAA income is defined as “your adjusted gross income plus any tax exempt interest you may have or everything on lines 2a and 11 of the IRS form 1040.”

Some examples of Income are: Wages, Interest, Capital Gains, Social Security benefits, Dividends (incl’d Muni Bonds), distributions from any Traditional IRA, 401(k), 403(b), 457, Keough and SEP IRA accounts.

Are there any regulations protecting people who are affected by this?

Unfortunately, no. Under Medicare’s Hold Harmless Act, which was created to protect beneficiaries from having their Medicare Part B premiums inflate higher than their Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA), those that reach the first bracket or higher are no longer eligible for protection.

Layman’s terms: your Medicare Part B premiums, once you are earning too much income, may inflate to a point where they are larger than your Social Security COLA, thus you could receive even less Social Security benefits in retirement.

How will Medicare beneficiaries pay this surcharge?

Social Security benefits automatically pay for the bulk of Medicare premiums as well as all surcharges due to IRMAA, it’s the law. For those who are not receiving Social Security and who are enrolled Medicare a bill for the amount will be forwarded to you through the mail from Social Security.

Those who may not be receiving enough in Social Security benefits will also be sent a bill for the adjusted amount as well.