How to Appeal IRMAA Surcharges Using Form SSA-44

If your 2024 income was temporarily high — and a qualifying life event like retirement has since reduced it — the Social Security Administration will recalculate your 2026 Medicare premium surcharge using more recent income. Here's exactly how to make that case.

What you're up against: 2026 IRMAA at a glance

Before appealing, confirm which bracket is driving your surcharge. 2026 premiums are based on your 2024 MAGI:

2026 premiums based on 2024 MAGI per person. Base Part B premium: $202.90/mo. Source: CMS 2026 Medicare Premiums Fact Sheet.¹

Use the IRMAA bracket calculator to confirm your tier based on your 2024 MAGI before filing an appeal.

When an IRMAA appeal makes sense

An appeal isn't about disputing the accuracy of SSA's calculation — it's about showing that your financial situation has changed in a way the lookback can't capture. The appeal asks SSA to substitute a more recent tax year's income (or an estimate of your current-year income) in place of the 2024 figure they're using.

An appeal makes sense when:

• Your 2024 income was high because of work earnings or a retirement distribution — but you've since retired and your 2025 income is significantly lower
• You experienced a major life event in 2024 or 2025 that reduced your income (see the list below)
• The surcharge you're paying reflects a one-time income spike, not your ongoing income level
• The annual savings from a lower IRMAA tier ($1,148+) justify the time to file

Qualifying Life Changing Events (SSA Form SSA-44)

SSA recognizes these categories of events as qualifying for an IRMAA redetermination. You must have experienced one of these, and it must explain why your current income is lower than what SSA used to set your surcharge.²

The most common qualifying event for newly retired Medicare enrollees: work stoppage. If you retired in 2024 or 2025 and your earned income has dropped substantially, you almost certainly qualify.

What does NOT qualify

The SSA-44 process is for income changes caused by life events — not for investment decisions that temporarily raised income. These do not qualify:

• Roth conversions: Even large ones. A conversion is a financial choice, not a life event. Your income will remain high on paper, even if it "won't happen again."
• Capital gain realizations: Selling investments, a vacation home, or a business at a gain is not a qualifying LCE — even if it was a one-time event.
• Receiving an inheritance or trust distribution.
• A large bonus or severance payment — unless accompanied by a work stoppage event.

Worked example: Tom, retired October 2024

Tom is 67 and a single Medicare enrollee. He worked as a hospital administrator until October 2024, when he retired. His 2024 MAGI was $195,000 — salary through October plus a retirement profit-sharing distribution.

SSA used his 2024 MAGI to set his 2026 IRMAA. At $195,000, he falls in the $171,001–$205,000 single bracket (Tier 3): an extra $324.64/mo Part B + $60.30/mo Part D = $4,619 per year in extra premiums.

But Tom's 2025 income looks very different: Social Security ($29,000) + IRA distributions to cover living expenses ($52,000) + dividends ($12,000) = $93,000. That's under the $109,000 single-filer threshold for any IRMAA surcharge at all.

Tom files SSA-44:

• Qualifying event: work stoppage (retired October 2024)
• Documentation: letter from his former employer confirming last date of employment; final pay stub
• Income year submitted: 2025 actual return (filed April 2026) showing $93,000 MAGI
• Result: SSA recalculates IRMAA using $93,000 → base tier → $0 in IRMAA surcharges
• Annual savings: $4,619

If Tom had filed SSA-44 in early 2025 (before his 2025 return was complete), he would have submitted an estimated 2025 income of approximately $90,000. SSA would have approved the lower tier provisionally; when the actual 2025 return came in, they would reconcile. If his actual income turned out to be higher than estimated, SSA would increase his surcharge retroactively.

How to file Form SSA-44: step by step

1. Download Form SSA-44. Current version (12-2025) available at SSA.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf.³ It's a fillable PDF — print it or complete it electronically.
2. Select your qualifying event. Check the appropriate box in Section 1 of the form. Most recent retirees will check "Work Stoppage."
3. Provide your income estimate. In Section 2, enter your MAGI for the most recent tax year you can document. If your prior-year return is already filed (e.g., 2025 return in April 2026), use that. If not, use an estimate for the current year — but be conservative, because if your actual income exceeds the estimate, SSA will adjust.
4. Gather documentation. For work stoppage: a letter from your former employer confirming your last day and that you are no longer employed, OR your final pay stub. For a reduced pension: a letter from the plan administrator. For death of spouse: a death certificate.
5. Submit to SSA. Three options:
   • Online: visit SSA.gov/medicare/lower-irmaa to start the process through your My Social Security account⁴
   • Mail: send Form SSA-44 + documentation to your local Social Security office (find it at SSA.gov/agency/contact)
   • In person: bring all documents to a local SSA office; walk-ins accepted

Timeline and what to expect

Can you appeal retroactively? Yes, but the lookback is limited. SSA will generally adjust premiums going forward from approval — they do not typically refund a full year of overpayments if you file late in the year. File as early as possible after the qualifying event occurs.

If SSA denies your appeal

A denial is not the end. If your qualifying event is legitimate and you have documentation, you can request a formal hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. This is uncommon — most SSA-44 appeals with proper documentation are approved without escalation — but the option exists. A Medicare-specialist advisor can help you assess whether escalation makes sense and how to present the income documentation most clearly.

What a specialist adds beyond the form

Form SSA-44 is one lever. An IRMAA-specialist advisor will typically model several others in parallel:

• Future bracket management: If you're now at base tier, how do you stay there? Roth conversion sizing, QCD offsets, and capital gain harvesting all need to be sequenced against the next two-year lookback window.
• Timing the appeal: If you're filing a current-year income estimate, the choice of income figure matters. A specialist can help you estimate conservatively but accurately — avoid a retroactive adjustment that reinstates surcharges mid-year.
• Married-couple coordination: IRMAA applies per person. If one spouse qualifies for an appeal and the other doesn't, the household's optimum may involve different income structuring for each.
• SS income and IRMAA: Social Security income counts as MAGI for IRMAA (85% of benefits is included in gross income for higher earners). How you time SS claiming affects your IRMAA for years after claiming begins.

Sources

1. CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts B Premiums and Deductibles (Fact Sheet). 2026 Part B base premium $202.90/mo; IRMAA surcharges by tier; Part D IRMAA amounts.
2. SSA.gov — Request to Lower an IRMAA. Official SSA landing page for IRMAA redetermination requests; lists qualifying life-changing events.
3. SSA — Form SSA-44 (Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount — Life-Changing Event). Current version 12-2025. Official form for IRMAA appeal citing a qualifying life event.
4. SSA — My Social Security Account. Online portal for initiating IRMAA appeals and managing Medicare premium adjustments.

IRMAA thresholds and Part B/D surcharge amounts verified against CMS 2026 publications. SSA-44 form version verified as 12-2025. Values current as of April 2026.