The money tables
The 2026 IRMAA brackets, complete, with the cliff math
Short answer: if your 2024 modified adjusted gross income topped $109,000 (single) or $218,000 (filing jointly), your 2026 Part B premium rises from the standard $202.90 to between $284.10 and $689.90, and a Part D surcharge of $14.50 to $91.00 rides alongside whatever your drug plan charges. The brackets are cliffs: one dollar over a threshold buys the entire tier. Here are the full tables, the two-year lookback logic, and the appeal that fixes it when your income has dropped.
Key takeaways
- IRMAA is set by your tax return from two years ago: 2024 income determines 2026 premiums.
- Five tiers above the standard premium: Part B totals of $284.10, $405.80, $527.50, $649.20, and $689.90 per person per month.
- Part D surcharges use the same income tiers ($14.50 up to $91.00), added on top of your plan’s own premium and billed by Medicare, not the plan.
- The brackets are cliffs, not phase-ins: $1 over a threshold triggers the full tier for the entire year.
- Income dropped since 2024 (retirement, death of spouse, divorce)? Form SSA-44 resets the calculation; it’s routinely worth thousands.
The complete 2026 tables
| 2024 income: single | 2024 income: married filing jointly | Part B total (per person/month) |
|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $218,000 or less | $202.90 (standard, no surcharge) |
| Above $109,000 to $137,000 | Above $218,000 to $274,000 | $284.10 |
| Above $137,000 to $171,000 | Above $274,000 to $342,000 | $405.80 |
| Above $171,000 to $205,000 | Above $342,000 to $410,000 | $527.50 |
| Above $205,000 and below $500,000 | Above $410,000 and below $750,000 | $649.20 |
| $500,000 and above | $750,000 and above | $689.90 |
Per the CMS 2026 Parts A & B announcement: surcharges of $81.20 to $487.00 added to the $202.90 standard premium, using modified adjusted gross income from 2024 returns.
The Part D surcharge follows the same income tiers, starting at $14.50 a month in the first tier, rising through $37.50 and $60.40 in the middle tiers, and topping out at $91.00 in the highest bracket. Two mechanics people miss: it’s charged in addition to your drug plan’s own premium, and it’s collected by Medicare (deducted from Social Security or billed directly), never by the plan, so a "cheap" drug plan doesn’t reduce it, and it applies even when drug coverage comes bundled inside a Medicare Advantage plan.
The cliff math, in one example
A single filer with 2024 income of $109,000 pays $202.90 a month in 2026. A neighbor at $109,001 pays $284.10 plus $14.50 for Part D: that one dollar costs $1,148 for the year, and for a married couple both on Medicare, roughly double. Every boundary repeats the pattern. This is why income timing near the thresholds, Roth conversions, large capital gains, IRA withdrawals, is effectively Medicare planning two years in advance: the sale you book at 63 sets the premium you pay at 65. Near a line, splitting income across tax years or routing charity through qualified charitable distributions (which bypass MAGI) can be worth four figures of premium.
The married-filing-separately trap
MFS filers who lived with their spouse during the tax year get a compressed, punitive schedule: income above $109,000 skips the gentle tiers entirely and lands at the $649.20 level. Couples considering separate filing for other reasons should price this in; it routinely flips the filing-status math.
What counts as income (MAGI)
The measure is adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest: wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, pensions, the taxable share of Social Security, and, yes, municipal bond interest. What doesn’t count: Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) qualified withdrawals (the strategic star of IRMAA planning), HSA withdrawals, and qualified charitable distributions. The two-year lookback means each year’s return quietly prices Medicare two years out, which is worth a recurring line in any retirement-income plan from age 63 onward.
The SSA-44 reset
The surcharge assumes your 2024 income persists; when a life-changing event has reduced it (retirement or work reduction being the everyday ones, plus marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, and certain losses), form SSA-44 asks Social Security to use your current-year estimate instead. Two pages, evidence attached, each spouse filing separately if both are surcharged. A one-time income spike (a home sale, a big conversion) generally doesn’t qualify, since no ongoing event changed; a genuine retirement almost always does. The worked walkthrough lives in the premium article, and the recurring moral is the same: IRMAA is recalculated annually, so it fades as high-income years age out of the lookback, but only appeals accelerate it.
Questions people also ask
What are the IRMAA brackets for 2026?
What income is IRMAA based on for 2026?
Is IRMAA a cliff or gradual?
How do I appeal IRMAA if I’ve retired?
Does IRMAA apply to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans?
Sources for this article
- CMS.gov2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles: the surcharge range and thresholds.
- RRB.gov2026 premium summary: the income-tier structure and Part D adjustment range.
- SSA.govForm SSA-44: the life-changing-event appeal.
Figures checked against these sources in August 2026. We update within weeks when CMS publishes new amounts.
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