How to Appeal Higher Medicare Premiums
I recently wrote about Income-Related Monthly Adjustments to your Medicare premiums. In this post I want to discuss circumstances where we have seen successful appeals and how you can go about doing that.
As a refresher, your Medicare premiums are based off your income from two years prior. So for 2019, it will be based off your 2017 income. This is the extent of the information that Social Security uses to determine how much you will pay. They don’t know anything about what has changed since 2017 or why 2017 was possibly an abnormal year for you. Because of this, it is your job to appeal if you feel the premiums don’t accurately reflect your income.
Social Security considers the following, among others, to be events that may warrant an appeal –
- Death
- Marriage/Divorce
- Stopping work or less work (retirement for example)
- Involuntary loss of income-producing property (depends on reason for loss)
- Loss of pension
If you feel that this may apply to you, I suggest filling out Form SSA-44 (Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount – Life Changing Event) and take it to your Social Security office. You should also bring proof that a change has occurred, which could include –
- Death certificate
- Marriage certificate/divorce decree
- Copy of your most recent tax return showing drop in income
Disclaimer: Reston Wealth Management has provided this information as a service and does not provide legal, accounting or tax advice. The appropriate professionals should be consulted on all legal, accounting and tax matters. Every individual situation is unique and a proper plan should be put in place before making a decision regarding Social Security and Medicare. The Social Security Administration alone makes all final determinations on your eligibility for benefits and the benefit amounts. You should consult with your local Social Security Office before acting upon any information provided.