Will Social Security automatically adjust my IRMAA Medicare premium in 2025 or do I need to request it?

The Social Security Administration should automatically adjust your Medicare premiums based on the most recent tax information they receive from the IRS. For 2025 premiums, they'll use your 2023 tax return information, which the IRS provides to them directly. You don't need to submit anything if your income change will show up on your tax return. SSA typically reviews this information in late fall and sends notices in November/December about any IRMAA changes for the coming year. You should receive a letter before January 2025 showing your new premium amount.

they don't always get it right tho. happened to my dad last yr and he had to call them to fix it. check your december notice carefully!!

Just to add some clarification - what you're describing is the standard annual redetermination process for IRMAA. SSA receives income data from IRS around September, processes it in October/November, and mails the premium adjustment notices (called Initial IRMAA Determination notices) in November/December for the following year. One important thing to know: if you don't receive your 2025 Medicare premium notice by mid-December, contact SSA immediately. Sometimes these notices get lost in the mail, and you don't want to discover a problem when your January payment is still showing the higher premium amount. Also, if your income has decreased due to a life-changing event (retirement, work reduction, divorce, death of spouse, etc.) rather than just normal income fluctuation, you can file Form SSA-44 to request an immediate reduction in your IRMAA amount without waiting for next year's redetermination.

I went thru this exact thing!!! Had a big income in 2021 from selling my house then got SLAMMED with IRMAA in 2023. It dropped off automatically for 2024 since my 2022 income was way lower. BUT make sure you check your January payment because sometimes they mess up the timing and you might have to get a refund later for January.

I tried calling SS about my IRMAA last month and was on hold FOR EVER. Kept getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration! They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU showing how it works. Totally worth it when you need to actually talk to someone at SSA.

THE WHOLE IRMAA SYSTEM IS RIDICULOUS!!! They base it on income from 2 YEARS AGO which has NOTHING to do with what you can afford NOW! I retired last year and my income dropped by 70% but I'm STILL paying extra for Medicare because of my work income from 2 years ago. Total SCAM to take more money from seniors!!! 😡

To summarize what happens with the IRMAA adjustment process: 1. SSA will automatically adjust your Medicare premium for 2025 based on your 2023 tax return data. 2. You should receive a notification letter in late November or December 2024. 3. The new premium amount will be reflected in your January 2025 Social Security payment. 4. If you don't receive a notice by mid-December, contact SSA. 5. Verify your January payment amount to ensure the adjustment was properly applied. The only time you need to take action yourself is if you experienced a qualifying life-changing event (retirement, death of spouse, divorce, etc.) and want your IRMAA recalculated based on your current income rather than waiting for next year's automatic adjustment.

One more thing to be aware of - the IRMAA income thresholds typically increase slightly each year with inflation. So even if your 2023 income is just slightly below the 2024 IRMAA threshold, it might actually be below the 2025 threshold by a more comfortable margin when they announce the new brackets later this year.