Form SSA-44 · life-changing events
Can you appeal your IRMAA?
If your income dropped because of one of eight life events, Social Security can base your premium on a more recent year. Pick what happened and get a checklist you can print and take to Social Security.
Choose the event that changed your income.
What Form SSA-44 does
Social Security normally sets IRMAA from your tax return two years back. Form SSA-44, "Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount – Life-Changing Event," asks Social Security to use a more recent year instead, because something outside your control reduced your income. If the newer year's income is below the limit, your surcharge can go down or disappear for that premium year.
IRMAA Cliff does not fill in, file or send the form. It helps you check whether your situation fits and what to bring. You can download the official form at ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf and submit it to Social Security by mail, in person, or as your local office directs.
The eight life-changing events
- Marriage
- Divorce or annulment
- Death of your spouse
- Work stoppage, such as retiring
- Work reduction
- Loss of income-producing property you did not choose to give up, such as a disaster or theft
- Loss or reduction of certain kinds of pension income
- An employer settlement payment because of the employer's closure, bankruptcy or reorganization
Retirement is by far the most common reason. A person who earned $180,000 in their last full year of work and retired at 65 will see IRMAA based on that salary year unless they file Form SSA-44 with an estimate of their lower retirement income.
What does not qualify
Income you chose to create is not a life-changing event. A Roth conversion, the sale of a home, capital gains from selling investments, and large IRA withdrawals all raise MAGI for one year, but none of them is on the form. The only way to avoid IRMAA from these is to plan them ahead, which is what the Roth headroom finder is for.
SSA-44 or a reconsideration?
Form SSA-44 is for real changes in your life. If instead Social Security used wrong information, such as an amended return it did not see or a tax year that was counted twice, you ask for a reconsideration. The step-by-step appeal guide covers both routes and the deadlines.