IRMAA brackets for 2026, and the tier your income lands in
Above $109,000 of modified AGI on a single 2024 return ($218,000 joint), Part B costs $284.10 a month or more instead of $202.90, and every drug plan premium gets a surcharge.
Your Part B premium in 2026, per person
$284.10/mo
IRMAA tier 1 of 5 · $1,148 a year above the standard premium
| Standard Part B premium | $202.90 |
| Part B adjustment (IRMAA) | $81.20 |
| Part D adjustment, added to any drug plan premium | $14.50 |
| Room before the next bracket | $12,000 |
| Income above this bracket’s floor | $16,000 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the data is read · independent site, not affiliated with Medicare or any insurer
IRMAA, the income-related monthly adjustment amount, raises the Part B and Part D premiums of people whose modified adjusted gross income passed $109,000 on a single return or $218,000 on a joint return two years earlier: for 2026 the Social Security Administration reads the 2024 tax return. There are five tiers. At the first, Part B costs $284.10 a month instead of the standard $202.90, and $14.50 is added to whatever drug plan you have; at the fifth, from $500,000 single or $750,000 joint, Part B reaches $689.90 and the drug surcharge $91. The tiers are cliffs: one dollar over a threshold triggers the whole surcharge for the year. Married people who file separately and lived together face a steeper scale, with the fourth tier from the first dollar above $109,000. The calculator above applies the CMS and SSA tables to your own figure and shows how far you are from the next line.
The 2026 table, as CMS and SSA publish it
| Single return, 2024 MAGI | Joint return, 2024 MAGI | Part B per month | Part D surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $218,000 or less | $202.90 | $0 |
| over $109,000 to $137,000 | over $218,000 to $274,000 | $284.10 | $14.50 |
| over $137,000 to $171,000 | over $274,000 to $342,000 | $405.80 | $37.50 |
| over $171,000 to $205,000 | over $342,000 to $410,000 | $527.50 | $60.40 |
| over $205,000, under $500,000 | over $410,000, under $750,000 | $649.20 | $83.30 |
| $500,000 or more | $750,000 or more | $689.90 | $91 |
The adjustment is not a tax and not a means test of your savings: it looks only at one line of income, two years back. Modified AGI here means adjusted gross income (line 11 of Form 1040) plus tax-exempt interest. Roth withdrawals do not count; a traditional IRA conversion, a large capital gain or the sale of a business in that year all do.
A couple filing jointly: what both of you pay
Both Part B premiums, per year
$6,818
| Each, per month | $284.10 |
| IRMAA for the two, per year | $2,297 |
| Room before the next bracket | $14,000 |
Why 2024 decides your 2026 premium
Social Security receives your tax data from the IRS in the fall and sends an initial determination letter, usually in November or December, before the year starts. When the 2024 return is not yet processed, SSA uses 2023 and corrects later. That lag is the trap of the first year of retirement: a last full salary, a severance package or a deferred bonus can place a new retiree in the third tier for a year when the paychecks have already stopped.
The law gives a way out. After a life-changing event (stopping work or cutting hours, marriage, divorce, the death of a spouse, the loss of a pension or of income-producing property), you can ask SSA to use a more recent year, or an estimate of the current one, with form SSA-44. The IRMAA appeal page walks through the evidence SSA accepts.
After retirement: new income, new bracket
Saved per year if SSA uses the new income
$4,620
| Part B now | $527.50 |
| Part B with the new income | $202.90 |
Single filer, 2026 tables. Form SSA-44 asks for this after a life-changing event.
2027: what is known and what is not
For 2027 the income year becomes 2025. CMS will publish the 2027 thresholds and amounts with the Part B premium, usually in November. The thresholds move with inflation, so they will be a little higher than the 2026 ones; the amounts follow the Part B premium. The 2026 Trustees Report projects a standard Part B premium of $209.50 and adjustments of $83.70 at the first tier up to $502.60 at the fifth. Those are projections: the calculator labels any 2027 result as such and keeps the 2026 income limits until CMS publishes the new ones.
How the surcharge is collected
Most people never write a check for IRMAA. When you receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, the Part B premium and both adjustments are taken from the monthly payment, so the first sign of a higher tier is a smaller deposit in January. People who have not claimed benefits yet receive a bill from Medicare, every month or every quarter, and can pay it online. The Part D adjustment goes to Medicare, not to the drug plan: paying the plan premium on time does not cover it, and an unpaid adjustment can end the drug coverage after the grace period.
Couples, and the separate-return trap
Each spouse on Medicare pays the adjustment separately, based on the joint income. A couple with a 2024 joint MAGI of $260,000 is in the first tier: each pays $284.10 for Part B, so the household pays $2,297 a year more than at $218,000. Filing separately does not help couples who lived together at any time in the year: SSA then applies its own scale, where every dollar above $109,000 puts a spouse straight into the fourth tier ($649.20), and $391,000 or more into the fifth. A spouse who lived apart all year is treated as single.
Ways people stay under a line
- Spread a Roth conversion over several years so that each one keeps MAGI under the next threshold; the "room before the next bracket" line of the calculator gives the margin.
- Give from an IRA directly to charity (a qualified charitable distribution) after age 70½: it never enters AGI.
- Time a capital gain: one sale in a single year can move you up two tiers, while two halves in two years may move you none.
- Remember the two-year lag when you plan: income earned at 63 sets the premiums at 65.
The Part D surcharge applies even if your drug coverage comes inside a $0 Advantage plan: Social Security deducts it from your benefit or Medicare bills you directly. If you have no Part D coverage at all, there is nothing to surcharge, but a late penalty may wait for you later; see the penalty calculator.