Social Security withholding survivor benefits for unpaid Medicare premiums - amount doesn't match up

There's definitely some confusion here that needs clearing up. When SSA withholds benefits for Medicare premiums, they typically only withhold enough to cover what you owe, not entire months of benefits. It sounds like there might be a mix-up between your survivor benefits and retirement benefits processing. First, check your Medicare billing status through your Medicare.gov account to confirm exactly what premiums are unpaid. Then call SSA and specifically ask for an itemized explanation of: 1. Exactly how much they claim you owe 2. Which months of Medicare coverage are unpaid 3. Why they're withholding full months rather than just the amount owed Request a formal written explanation of the withholding calculation. This situation doesn't sound right based on what you've shared.

same thing happend to me last year! the ssa and medicare don't talk to eachother right. I bet your premium payments went to the wrong place or didn't get recorded properly. its a mess trying to fix it but dont give up

This sounds like a case where they're applying the "Medicare Premium Collection Hold" policy incorrectly. When you transition between benefit types (like going from survivor to retirement), there can be a gap in automatic premium deductions. However, they should only withhold the actual premium amount owed, not multiple months of full benefits. You need to request a formal reconsideration. To do this: 1. Call the SSA and explicitly say you're requesting a "reconsideration of Medicare premium withholding" 2. Ask for form SSA-561 to be sent to you 3. Gather proof of any premium payments you've made 4. Submit everything within 60 days of receiving the notice In the meantime, it might be worth paying the outstanding premium amount directly to prevent further benefit delays, even if you believe there's an error. You can get reimbursed later if you're proven correct.

I JUST went through something similar!!!! The problem might be that when you switch from survivor benefits to your own retirement benefits, there's a weird gap in how they handle the Medicare premium deductions. For some reason their computer system doesn't smoothly transition the premium payments between benefit types. I got SO frustrated trying to fix this by phone - spent HOURS and HOURS on hold only to get disconnected or told different things by different reps. The worst part is even when I got through, the person couldn't actually help me!!

I had a similar issue trying to reach social security about medicare premium problems. After struggling for weeks, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real person at SSA in under 5 minutes. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their website is claimyr.com. Saved me days of frustration! Once I actually talked to someone, they explained there was a coding error in my account causing the premium withholding issue and fixed it on the spot.

Update: I managed to check my Medicare account online and it shows I do have unpaid premiums, but only for $712 total - nowhere near what they're withholding from my benefits! I'm going to try that Claimyr service tomorrow because I've tried calling 6 times now and either get disconnected or told the wait is over 2 hours. This is so frustrating when I'm just trying to understand why they're withholding thousands for a much smaller premium amount.

just wanna say dont get ur hopes up for a quick fix... my mom had benefits withheld for like 4 months before they sorted out her medicare premium mess! the systems are so old and nobody there seems to know how to fix stuff when it breaks. keep calling and document EVERYTHING!!!

After reviewing your situation, I believe you're experiencing what's called a "Medicare Premium Withholding Correction Event." This occurs when there's a gap in premium collection due to benefit type changes. Here's what's happening: 1. When you applied for survivor benefits, that triggered one Medicare premium collection setup 2. When you later applied for retirement benefits (which will replace the survivor benefits since they're higher), that created a second premium collection setup 3. The system detected the missed premiums during the transition and triggered an automatic withholding However, SSA must follow specific rules about benefit withholding. Under the "limitation on recovery" rules for Medicare premium collection, they generally cannot withhold more than needed to recover the actual amount owed, except in cases of fraud. Request a detailed Medicare Premium Withholding Statement when you call. This will itemize exactly what they claim you owe and why they're withholding the amount they are. This is your evidence for filing a reconsideration if needed.

im confused does he get both survivor and retirement benefits at same time? my husband died last year and im turning 65 next month so trying to figure out my own situation

I'm glad to see others have provided helpful information. One more technical detail: If you file a reconsideration (form SSA-561) for the Medicare premium withholding, you can also request "immediate benefit continuation" while the reconsideration is being processed. This is especially appropriate when the withholding amount seems disproportionate to the actual amount owed. Also, once this is resolved, you might want to switch to having your Medicare premiums deducted monthly directly from your bank account through Medicare Easy Pay. This avoids these kinds of problems during benefit transitions. You can set this up at medicare.gov or by completing form SF-5510.