2026 IRMAA brackets
Standard Part B premium for 2026: $202.90/month. The figures below are per person and based on your 2024 MAGI. Married filing separately uses its own (narrower) set of brackets.
| Single / HoH MAGI (2024) | Married filing jointly (2024) | Part B total / mo | Part D surcharge / mo |
|---|
Married filing separately: standard up to $109,000; a high tier from $109,000 to $391,000; and the top tier above $391,000.
The two-year lookback (and why planning matters)
Your Medicare premiums always look back two years: 2026 premiums use 2024 income, 2027 premiums will use 2025 income, and so on. That lag is the whole game for planning. A Roth conversion, a large capital gain, or a big retirement-account withdrawal raises your MAGI now and can bump your Medicare premiums two years later — sometimes by thousands of dollars across both spouses.
Because IRMAA is a cliff, staying just under a bracket can be worth far more than the last dollar of income that crosses it. The result panel above shows exactly how much headroom you have and what crossing (or dropping) a tier costs or saves.
Appealing IRMAA after a life change (Form SSA-44)
If your income dropped because of a qualifying life-changing event, you can ask Social Security to use a more recent year instead of the two-year-old return. File Form SSA-44. Qualifying events include:
- Work stoppage or reduction (retirement) — the most common reason
- Marriage, divorce/annulment, or death of a spouse
- Loss of pension income
- Loss of income-producing property (e.g., from a disaster), or an employer settlement payment
What does not qualify: a one-time income event you chose, like a Roth conversion, a stock sale, or a large IRA withdrawal. Those raise your IRMAA two years later and can't be appealed — which is exactly why it's worth modeling them ahead of time.
Frequently asked questions
- What income is used for 2026 IRMAA?
- Your 2024 MAGI = adjusted gross income (1040 line 11) + tax-exempt interest (line 2a). Social Security is not added back for IRMAA.
- What are the 2026 brackets?
- IRMAA starts above $109,000 (single) / $218,000 (joint). Standard Part B is $202.90/mo; total Part B runs up to $689.90/mo at the top tier, plus a Part D surcharge, across five tiers.
- Is IRMAA a cliff?
- Yes — one dollar over a bracket moves you up for the whole year, raising both Part B and Part D. That's why headroom matters.
- Can I appeal it?
- For qualifying life events (retirement, marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, loss of pension/property), yes — use Form SSA-44. One-time events like Roth conversions don't qualify.
- Does a Roth conversion affect my premiums?
- Yes, two years later — it raises MAGI for that year and can push you into a higher tier. Model it before converting.
- Do both spouses pay?
- Each spouse on Medicare pays their own surcharge based on your joint MAGI, so a couple where both are enrolled pays it twice.
Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms on this page.