Social Security retroactive payment received but Medicare premium refund confusion - what's next?

Congrats on getting your retroactive payment so quickly! About the Medicare premiums - SSA doesn't automatically refund them. You'll need to call and explain the situation. Bring evidence of your previous payments (bank statements or Medicare receipts). This is a common issue with retroactive benefits, especially when someone has been paying Medicare premiums directly before SS benefits start. The Medicare Premium Bill Payment program will need to reconcile your account.

Thanks for the info! I was hoping they'd just figure it out on their own. I'll dig up my bank statements showing the previous payments and give them a call. Do you know which specific department I should ask for?

the same thing hapened to me last year! called SSA like 5 times and nobody could help. finally got thru to someone who knew what they were doing and they fixed it. the check came about 3 weeks later. good luck!!

5 times?! That's ridiculous. Did you have to provide any specific documentation when you finally reached the right person?

I had a similar issue but with different dates and SSA did eventually refund the duplicate Medicare premiums, but it wasn't automatic. I had to call and specifically request it. Make sure you have your Medicare premium payment records ready to prove you paid them already. The process took about 6 weeks for me.

I can confirm this is the correct process. I'm a benefits counselor and see this frequently with retroactive claims. The technical term for this is \

Ugh, this makes me so mad! Why can't their systems talk to each other??? They SHOULD automatically know if you've paid already! I've been dealing with SS for my mom's benefits and everything is like pulling teeth. It's YOUR money they're holding onto!

ya totally agree. the government always takes but never gives back without a fight lol

It is frustrating. I was so pleased with how smoothly everything else went that I guess I shouldn't be surprised there's at least one complication!

If you've been struggling to reach someone at Social Security about your Medicare premium refund, you might want to try Claimyr. I was in a similar situation with duplicate Medicare payments and spent weeks trying to get through. A friend recommended this service (claimyr.com) and I was speaking with an actual SSA rep in under 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. The agent I reached was able to process my Medicare refund request immediately and I received the payment about 3 weeks later.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been dreading making that call knowing how long the wait times can be. I'll check out that video and might give it a try if I can't get through the normal way.

wish i knew about this earlier!! bookmarking for next time i need to call them

To clarify something important - the Medicare premium refund needs to be processed through the Medicare Premium Bill Payment Operation center, not your local field office. You can reach them at 1-800-772-1213, but ask specifically for that department. Have your Social Security number, Medicare number, and bank statements ready. The $920 sounds about right for 4 months of Medicare Part B premiums plus perhaps Part D if you have that as well. The refund will either come as a check or direct deposit depending on your payment preferences.

This is really helpful! I do have both Part B and Part D, so that explains the total. I'll make sure to ask specifically for the Medicare Premium Bill Payment Operation center when I call.

did you have to fill out form SSA-795? my cousin had to do that for his medicare refund

The SSA-795 is a \

Update: I called SSA this morning (only waited 45 mins!) and spoke with someone about the Medicare premium refund. The representative confirmed I was correct about the duplicate payments and has submitted a request for reimbursement. She said it should take 4-6 weeks to process and the refund will come directly to my bank account. Thanks everyone for your help!

That's great! Glad you got it sorted out. Just make a note on your calendar for 6 weeks from now in case you need to follow up. In my experience, these things sometimes fall through the cracks.

Excellent! Make sure you got a confirmation number for that request. It will make following up much easier if needed.