Your 2024 Income
IRMAA uses your MAGI from 2 years ago. 2026 premiums are based on your 2024 tax return. Leave blank or zero for items that don't apply.
Filing Status
2024 Income Sources (MAGI)
Your 2026 Medicare Premiums
Updates live as you type. Official 2026 amounts (CMS fact sheet, November 14, 2025). Does not include your Part D plan's own premium.
The IRMAA Cliff: What $1 Over Costs You
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All 2026 IRMAA Brackets
| 2024 MAGI | Part B/mo | Part D+ | Per person/yr |
|---|
What you're looking at, in plain English
The big number is what one person pays for the year: the Part B premium plus any Part D income surcharge. The line under it shows how much of that is IRMAA, the extra amount added because of income. It does not include your drug plan's own premium.
Worked example (2026)
A single retiree had 2024 MAGI of $112,000. That is $3,000 over the $109,000 line, so she is in the first IRMAA tier: $284.10 a month for Part B plus $14.50 on top of her Part D plan, $298.60 in all. At $109,000 or less she would pay $202.90. The difference is $95.70 a month, or $1,148.40 for the year. A married couple at $221,000 on a joint return, both on Medicare, pays that twice: $2,296.80. Amounts: CMS, 2026 Medicare Parts A and B premiums and deductibles.
What to do next
- Check the number. Your MAGI is line 11 plus line 2a of your 2024 Form 1040. Enter the pieces above and see which bracket it lands in.
- Income dropped since 2024? If you retired, cut back work, lost a spouse or divorced, you can ask Social Security to use a newer year. See how to appeal with Form SSA-44.
- Planning a Roth conversion or a sale this year? 2026 income sets your 2028 premium. Check the total against the lines before December 31.
What IRMAA actually is
Most people on Medicare pay the standard Part B premium ($202.90 a month in 2026, per CMS). IRMAA stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, an extra premium added when your income is above a set line. The bigger the income, the bigger the surcharge, up to ~$578/month per person at the top tier (over $13,000/year for a couple).
The 2-year lookback trap
IRMAA looks at your tax return from two years ago to decide this year's premium. So a one-time event in 2024, a Roth conversion, a big capital gain, a home sale, can spike your 2026 Medicare bill. People often don't realize until the surcharge letter arrives.
2026 tiers (married filing jointly)
- $218k MAGI or less → no surcharge
- Over $218k to $274k → +$95.70/mo each (you and your spouse)
- Over $274k to $342k → +$240.40/mo each
- Over $342k to $410k → +$385/mo each
- Over $410k, under $750k → +$529.60/mo each
- $750k and over → +$578/mo each
(Single filers’ lines are half the joint lines, except the top line: $500,000 single vs $750,000 joint. Same trap, smaller numbers.)
How to fight back
- SSA-44 appeal, if you had a "life-changing event" (retirement, divorce, spouse's death, work stoppage), file Form SSA-44 to ask the SSA to use your current income instead of the lookback. Retiring counts as a work stoppage.
- Watch the cliffs: going $1 over a tier costs you the entire tier's surcharge for both spouses for the whole year. There is no phase-in.
- Time big income events, Roth conversions, capital gains, IRA withdrawals, to stay just under the tier you can afford.
What if your income goes up? Test a Roth conversion or a sale
Short answer: one extra dollar over a line costs you the whole step. Pick an amount below to see what a one-time bump in income would do to your premium, using the numbers you entered above. Nothing here changes your inputs.
The IRMAA staircase: cost per person per year by income
What-if limits: Medicare uses your income from two years back, so income in 2026 sets 2028 premiums. The 2028 brackets are not published, so this tool shows the 2026 (official) or 2027 (projected) table as a stand-in. 2027 amounts are projected from the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report (June 9, 2026); the middle income lines are approximate to within about $1,000 and CMS publishes the official 2027 table in mid-November 2026. Details on the 2027 IRMAA brackets page. Education only, not tax advice.
Where Part B Premiums Have Been, And Where the Trend Says They're Going
Standard Part B has grown 5.8% per year on average since 2020 (CMS published rates). At that pace, here's the projection through 2035 for the standard tier and the top IRMAA tier. The gap is the cost of NOT planning for income brackets.
| Year | Standard Part B | YoY % | Tier 5 (Part B + D) | Annual Tier 5 |
|---|
Sources: CMS annual Medicare Part B premium announcements (November 2019 through November 2025). 2027 and later are our projection, not official; CMS announces the 2027 premium in mid-November 2026. Projection assumes the 2020 to 2026 compound annual growth rate of 5.8% continues. Actual future premiums depend on Medicare trust fund spending and Congressional action and may differ. Educational illustration only.
Related free tool: appeal it with Form SSA-44.
Get a Copy of Your Medicare Premium Report
Enter your info below and we'll email you a personalized copy of your 2026 Medicare premium report: your IRMAA bracket, annual cost, and where the cliff is. Hans Goldstein will also include 1-2 income-planning moves that could keep you in a lower bracket. Free. No pitch.
What Happens Next
Hans will personally review your MAGI breakdown and email you within 24 hours with 1-2 educational notes on the math behind IRMAA surcharges and how people stay under them. This is free educational math help from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, not a financial advisor relationship, not a recommendation, not a sales call.
