Medicare Part D

2026 IRMAA Brackets: Who Pays More for Parts B and D

MELBOURNE, Fla. — As Medicare's fall Annual Enrollment Period runs through Dec. 7, higher-income retirees along the Space Coast are paying closer attention to a corner of the program that often catches people off guard: the income-related monthly adjustment amount, better known as IRMAA. For 2026, the surcharge on Part B and Part D premiums kicks in once a single filer's income tops $109,000 — and the letter announcing it usually arrives before people realize how it was calculated.

What IRMAA actually is

IRMAA is not a separate bill or a penalty. It's an extra amount added to your standard Part B premium and your Part D premium when your income is above a set threshold. Most people on Medicare pay only the standard Part B premium. A smaller group — generally higher earners — pays that base amount plus an IRMAA surcharge.

The surcharge has multiple tiers. The higher your income climbs above the first threshold, the higher the tier, and the larger the monthly add-on for both Part B and Part D.

The 2027 income thresholds

For 2026, the first IRMAA tier begins when:

• A single filer's modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is above $109,000, or
• A married couple filing jointly has MAGI above $218,000.

Income below those figures means no surcharge. Income above them puts you into the first tier, with additional tiers stacked on top as income rises. Married couples filing separately have their own, much lower threshold and should check the current chart directly on Medicare.gov.

The exact dollar amount of the surcharge at each tier is published each year by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Because those figures are updated annually, it's worth pulling the current table from Medicare.gov rather than relying on last year's numbers.

Why the IRS return from two years ago matters

This is the part that surprises Melbourne readers most. Social Security will determine your 2027 IRMAA using the tax return you filed for 2025. That two-year lookback exists because it's the most recent return SSA can reliably pull from the IRS.

That means a strong income year in 2025 — a large Roth conversion, the sale of a home, a bonus, or capital gains — can bump you into IRMAA territory for 2027, even if your income has since dropped in retirement.

When you can ask for a reconsideration

If your income has fallen because of a specific life-changing event, you don't have to just accept the surcharge. SSA allows you to request a new determination using Form SSA-44 if you've experienced things like:

• Retirement or reduced work hours
• Marriage, divorce, or the death of a spouse
• Loss of pension income
• Loss or reduction of income-producing property

You'll need documentation — a letter from an employer, a death certificate, a divorce decree — and you file the form with your local Social Security office. It's a straightforward process, but many people don't know it exists.

How this fits into the rest of your 2027 Medicare costs

IRMAA sits on top of the standard premium structure, so it's helpful to know what else is changing next year. In 2026, Part D has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered prescriptions, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615. The old coverage gap — the "donut hole" — was eliminated in 2025, leaving three simpler phases of drug coverage. If drug costs feel lumpy, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread them across the calendar year in monthly installments at no added cost.

None of those pieces change your IRMAA, but they do change the full picture of what you'll pay in 2027.

What to do during AEP in Brevard County

Melbourne is in Brevard County, where Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period — Oct. 15 through Dec. 7 — is the window to review Part D and Medicare Advantage choices for 2027. If you were hit with an IRMAA notice this year, AEP is a good time to make sure the rest of your coverage still fits your prescriptions and providers. A follow-up Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment window runs Jan. 1 through March 31 for people already enrolled in an Advantage plan.

For personalized help, Floridians can contact SHINE, Florida's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which offers free, unbiased counseling.