a comment about today’s column
I appreciate the excellent advice and enjoy your column in the Chicago Trib. I feel, however, that your advice on IRMAA today was a bit misleading. To quote, ” So even if you’ve been retired for a year and your income has dropped, you’ll still pay the higher monthly premiums.” That was not my experience. My husband and I retired in 2020 at age 65. We were informed that we would pay higher Medicare Part B premiums based on our 2018 and 2019 tax returns. I filed form SSA-44 to attest to a “life changing event (retirement) ” that would change our 2021 income. We were approved to pay the basic Part B premium in 2021. We were required to submit our 2021 tax return to prove our status and needed to repeat the process in 2022, but it was worth it to pay the lowest premiums for these two years. I hope my experience might help your readers.
Sincerely,
Terry Says
Thanks for your note. That is exactly what I was talking about at the end of the column — appealing IRMAA when your income drops. But your easy experience is not always shared by others. It can be quite a hassle to get the premium reduced the following year. So glad it worked for you!
