Medicare Supplement

Clovis Medicare: 2026 IRMAA Thresholds for Part B and Part D

CLOVIS, N.M. — If your income has climbed in the last couple of years, your 2026 Medicare bill may look different than your neighbor's. Starting in January, higher-income retirees will again pay an extra amount on top of their standard Part B and Part D premiums. It's called IRMAA — the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount — and for 2026, the first surcharge kicks in once a single filer's income tops $109,000, or $218,000 for a married couple filing jointly.

Here's what Curry County retirees need to know before the numbers hit their Social Security statements.

What IRMAA actually is

IRMAA isn't a penalty and it isn't a tax. It's an extra monthly amount that people with higher incomes pay for Medicare Part B (doctor visits and outpatient care) and Part D (prescription drugs). Most people on Medicare pay only the standard Part B premium and whatever their Part D plan charges. But if your income is above a set threshold, Social Security adds a surcharge to both.

The Social Security Administration figures out who owes IRMAA using your most recent tax return on file with the IRS. For 2026, that generally means your 2024 tax return.

The 2026 income thresholds

IRMAA works in tiers. The higher your income, the higher the surcharge. For 2026, the brackets begin at:

• Single filers: more than $109,000
• Married filing jointly: more than $218,000
• Married filing separately (lived with spouse): a much lower threshold — surcharges start just above $109,000

There are five IRMAA tiers in total. The top tier applies to single filers with incomes at or above roughly $500,000, and married couples at or above roughly $750,000. CMS publishes the exact dollar amounts each fall on medicare.gov.

The income Social Security looks at is called MAGI — your adjusted gross income plus any tax-exempt interest. That means municipal bond interest counts, even though it's not taxed.

How the surcharge shows up

If you owe IRMAA, you'll get a letter from Social Security before the year starts explaining the amount. The Part B surcharge is usually pulled straight out of your Social Security check. The Part D surcharge is billed separately by Medicare — it is not paid to your drug plan — even though your regular Part D premium still goes to the plan itself.

This trips up a lot of people in Clovis and across Curry County who assume switching Part D plans during Open Enrollment will lower their IRMAA. It won't. The surcharge is based on income, not on which plan you pick.

What to do if your income dropped

Retiring, losing a spouse, a divorce, or selling a business can all send your income sharply lower than it was on that 2024 tax return. If any of those "life-changing events" apply, you can ask Social Security to recalculate your IRMAA using more recent income.

The form is SSA-44, available at ssa.gov or any Social Security office. You'll need documentation — a letter from your former employer, a death certificate, a divorce decree, or similar. This is one of the most useful things a retiree can do, and it's often overlooked.

Why this matters right now

The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7. It's the window to compare Part D and Medicare Advantage options for 2026. While AEP won't change your IRMAA, it's still the right time to review your drug coverage — especially with the new $2,100 out-of-pocket cap on Part D drugs taking effect in 2026 and the maximum Part D deductible set at $615.

If drug costs have been squeezing your budget, you may also want to ask your plan about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread your annual drug costs into monthly installments instead of paying big bills at the pharmacy counter.

Clovis-area help

Clovis is in Curry County, where Medicare beneficiaries have a range of stand-alone Part D and Medicare Advantage options available for 2026. Availability is set at the county level, so what your cousin in Albuquerque or Lubbock sees on medicare.gov's Plan Finder may not match your list.

For free, unbiased help, New Mexico's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — known locally as the Benefits Counseling program through the Aging and Long-Term Services Department — can walk you through your options one-on-one.