The form that can reduce or remove an IRMAA surcharge is SSA-44, “Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount — Life-Changing Event,” filed with Social Security at no charge. It works when a qualifying life event — retirement, a work reduction, divorce, the death of a spouse, among others — has brought your income below the figure on the tax return that set the surcharge; approval corrects your premium going forward and refunds or credits what was over-collected that year.
Revised: 7/24/26
Jason Baar
Fee-Only Medicare Advisor
NPN #2033715
It walks through Form SSA-44 step by step — the eight qualifying life events, the evidence that supports each one, and a worked example.
The guide is on its way — allow up to 10 minutes. If it hasn’t arrived by then, peek in your spam folder, and if it’s there, click “Not spam,” so the next person’s guide arrives where it belongs. You’re all set.
The long answer
The reduction at stake is real money. Under the CMS-published 2026 tables, the surcharge runs from about $1,148 to about $6,936 a year — and it applies per person, so a married couple who both pay it each file their own form, and each correction counts. If your documented current income falls below $109,000 as a single filer or $218,000 filing jointly, the surcharge is removed entirely.
The form itself runs a few pages: your event and its date, your estimate of this year’s MAGI — adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest — and your evidence: proof the event happened plus the documents behind the estimate, such as pension award letters and last year’s 1099s.
One boundary, stated plainly: Social Security does not reduce a surcharge because it feels high. Without a qualifying event — or an actual error in the tax data, which your local office can correct without this form — the surcharge stands until next year’s determination, when a newer, lower-income return replaces the old one on its own.
Printed from JasonKnowsMedicare.com — “The IRMAA Reduction Form: How to Ask for a Lower Surcharge”. The free IRMAA Appeal Kit is available at tally.so/r/XxvNNO · Questions: (850) 810-1000
This page is educational information, not personal financial, tax, or legal advice. For decisions about your own situation, talk with a qualified professional.