Medicare enrollment for 2026 opens on October 15. Do you know what you earned two years ago?
Your 2024 income will determine if you’ll pay the Medicare surcharge, or income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA), next year. If taxable income exceeds certain thresholds, Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries must pay IRMAA plus standard premiums. IRMAA also applies to any prescription drug coverage.
Medicare premiums are expected to rise by a near record dollar amount next year and eat a chunk of the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) older Americans may receive. IRMAA can more than double the standard monthly premium for health coverage and almost double the drug premium.
“Medicare is taken out of Social Security, so it can be very painful,” said John Jones, investment adviser at Heritage Financial. “Social Security could do nothing but pay for Medicare.”
Only about 8%, or 5.1 million, Medicare enrollees pay the Medicare Part B surcharge, but that's up from 1.7 million Americans when the surcharge began in 2007 to help fund Medicare, the Medicare Trustees Report said. The number of people paying IRMAA is seen rising to 8.6 million in 2034.
