Medicare Part D

IRMAA & Medicare Premiums in Bartlesville, Okla.

Bartlesville, Okla. — As Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period runs through Dec. 7, many Washington County retirees are getting a fresh look at what they'll pay next year. And for a growing number of higher-income households, the surprise isn't the plan itself — it's the extra amount Medicare adds to their Part B and Part D premiums based on their tax return from two years ago.

Here's a plain-English guide to how IRMAA works heading into 2027, who it hits, and what you can do if your income has recently dropped.

What IRMAA is, in plain terms

IRMAA stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. It's an extra charge that Social Security tacks onto your Medicare Part B premium and your Part D drug plan premium if your income is above a certain level.

It is not a penalty. It's not tied to late enrollment. It's simply Medicare's way of asking higher-income beneficiaries to pay a larger share of the program's real cost.

Two things to know up front:

• IRMAA is based on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) from your tax return two years ago. For 2027, Medicare will look at your 2025 tax return.
• If IRMAA applies, you'll pay it on both Part B and Part D — even if your Part D plan's advertised premium is low. The Part D surcharge is billed to you directly by Medicare, not by your drug plan.

The IRMAA income thresholds

For 2026, IRMAA begins once your 2024 MAGI is above $109,000 for a single filer or above $218,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Below those numbers, you pay the standard Part B premium and just your plan's Part D premium — no surcharge.

Above the thresholds, IRMAA is tiered. The higher your income, the higher the surcharge, up through several brackets. Married couples who file separately have their own, tighter set of rules that can trigger IRMAA at much lower income levels. CMS publishes the 2027 brackets later in the fall, usually in November, alongside the Part B figures.

You can see the full bracket chart on Medicare.gov under "Costs" — that's the official source and it's updated each year.

Why some Bartlesville retirees get hit unexpectedly

Bartlesville sits in Washington County, and like a lot of communities with long-tenured energy and professional workers, it has plenty of households whose retirement income doesn't look like a steady paycheck. IRMAA often surprises people because of one-time events in the "look-back" year, such as:

• Selling a home or a rental property
• A large Roth conversion
• Cashing out company stock or taking a lump-sum pension
• Required Minimum Distributions from a large 401(k) or IRA
• The year a spouse passed away, when filing status changes

Any of these can push a single tax year's income well above the threshold — and two years later, a higher Part B and Part D bill shows up.

How to appeal if your income has dropped

This is the part many people miss. If you've had a life-changing event that reduced your income, you can ask Social Security to recalculate IRMAA using your more recent income instead of the 2024 return.

Qualifying events include:

• Retirement or reduced work hours
• Death of a spouse
• Marriage or divorce
• Loss of pension income
• Loss of income-producing property (through no fault of your own)

The form is SSA-44, "Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount – Life-Changing Event." You file it with the Social Security Administration, along with documentation such as a signed statement from a former employer or a copy of a death certificate. If approved, Social Security adjusts your surcharge — sometimes back to zero.

What this has to do with your plan choices

IRMAA doesn't change which plans are available to you. Bartlesville is in Washington County, where Medicare beneficiaries have a range of stand-alone Part D drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage to compare during Annual Enrollment.

But IRMAA does change your total monthly cost of coverage. A few important points to keep in mind as 2027 approaches:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615 for 2026 and $700 for 2027. These apply regardless of your income.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter. It's optional and available through any Part D plan.

So even if IRMAA applies to you, the underlying drug benefit — the cap, the phases, the smoothing option — is the same protection every enrollee gets.

Key dates to remember

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. This is when you can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2026.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare with a Part D plan.

IRMAA determinations for 2027 will be made by Social Security separately and mailed out; if you get one, read it carefully — it will tell you how to appeal.