Confused by Medicare Part B double payment reimbursement and tax withholding - Social Security math not adding up

this sounds like what happened to me last year! it's confusing because they're paying you back for 1 month of the double payment (the month when you paid SSA directly AND they took it out of your benefit). they withheld taxes because the system treats all payments from SSA like regular benefits. its stupid but thats how their computers work, they can't separate different payment types

The way I understand it (had something similar happen), you will only get reimbursed for the month where you would be paying TWICE. In your case, that's January - you paid upfront in November AND they would normally deduct it from your January benefit. They're giving you back the January premium because otherwise you'd pay twice for that month. You won't get anything for February because you'll get your February check with the premium already deducted - so no double payment there. And yes, they DO withhold taxes on EVERYTHING, even reimbursements. I spent 45 minutes arguing with a rep about this last year. It's ridiculous but that's how their ancient system processes everything. You'll get it sorted out when you file your taxes.

Let me clarify how this works with Medicare Part B and Social Security benefits: When you begin receiving Social Security benefits, your Part B premium is automatically deducted from your monthly benefit amount. Since you paid 3 months in advance (Dec, Jan, Feb), you're entitled to a refund for January because: 1. You already paid January's premium in advance ($185) 2. SSA would normally deduct January's premium from your January benefit payment To prevent double payment, they issue a refund equal to one month's premium. The confusion comes from them applying your tax withholding to this refund, which technically they shouldn't do since it's not income but a reimbursement. You will NOT receive a similar payment for February because your February premium will be properly deducted from your February benefit payment (no double payment situation there). The withholding on the reimbursement is unusual and likely a technical limitation of their payment system. You can claim this when you file your taxes next year.

I went through this EXACT same thing last year and spent HOURS on hold trying to get someone at SSA to explain it to me!!! The taxes being withheld on the reimbursement makes zero sense, but that's how their archaic system works. Everything that comes out of SSA gets treated like regular benefits - even when it's LITERALLY GIVING YOU BACK YOUR OWN MONEY! 🤬 You're only getting one payment because you only have one month of overlap (January). They should have explained this better in the letter. And btw, the fact that they said you'd get it on Feb 11 when you already got it Jan 27 is classic SSA - their letters are always generated way ahead of when they actually process payments.

To add a bit more clarity: SSA's systems are set up to treat ALL payments as taxable benefits, even when they're reimbursements. This is because their mainframe systems were designed in the 1980s and don't have the capability to differentiate payment types within the automated payment processing system. What happened in your case: 1. You paid $185 directly for January's Part B premium 2. SSA is reimbursing you for this amount since they'll also be deducting it from your January benefit 3. Their system automatically applied your 12% withholding to this payment While technically incorrect from an accounting perspective, this is how their system works. You'll receive Form SSA-1099 next January showing all payments, and you'll need to work with your tax preparer to ensure you're not overpaying taxes on reimbursed amounts. And to answer your other question - no, you won't receive a similar payment for February because there's no double payment situation for that month.

i had this EXACT problem last year and spent a month trying to get thru to ssa on the phone. kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. finally i found a service called claimyr.com that got me connected to an agent in under 10 minutes. they have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU the agent was able to explain the whole medicare reimbursement thing and confirmed what others said - they can only refund months where you'd pay twice, and yes they withhold taxes on everything no matter what. saved me so much time and frustration!

why is everything with ssa so complicated!!! i swear they make it confusing on purpose so people give up trying to understand. happens with EVERYTHING not just medicare stuff

One more thing - double check your February payment to make sure everything is correct going forward. Make sure they're deducting the right amount for Medicare Part B and that your withholding percentage is being calculated AFTER the Medicare deduction, not before. The first couple months of benefits often have little glitches that need to be fixed.