The calculator
With 2024 MAGI of $230,000, you each pay $284.10 a month for Part B in 2026 plus $14.50 for Part D, $1,148.40 a year each over the standard premium. You can add $44,000 of income before the next tier. Cutting MAGI by $12,000 would drop a tier and save $2,296.80 a year.
2026 IRMAA brackets for Medicare Part B and Part D
IRMAA, the income-related monthly adjustment amount, is the extra Medicare charges when your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is above a threshold. For 2026 the standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month and the Part B deductible is $283. IRMAA starts above $109,000 on a single return and $218,000 on a joint return, tested against your 2024 tax return. Each spouse on Medicare pays it.
| Single MAGI | Joint MAGI | Part B a month | Part B surcharge | Part D surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $218,000 or less | $202.90 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| $109,001 to $137,000 | $218,001 to $274,000 | $284.10 | $81.20 | $14.50 |
| $137,001 to $171,000 | $274,001 to $342,000 | $405.80 | $202.90 | $37.50 |
| $171,001 to $205,000 | $342,001 to $410,000 | $527.50 | $324.60 | $60.40 |
| $205,001 to $499,999 | $410,001 to $749,999 | $649.20 | $446.30 | $83.30 |
| $500,000 or more | $750,000 or more | $689.90 | $487.00 | $91.00 |
Married couples who file separately and lived together at any time in the year are not on the table above. Above $109,000 they go straight to the second-highest tier:
| MAGI | Part B a month | Part D surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $202.90 | $0.00 |
| $109,001 to $390,999 | $649.20 | $83.30 |
| $391,000 or more | $689.90 | $91.00 |
Projected 2027 IRMAA brackets
CMS has not published the 2027 figures yet. It usually does in late October or November (October 12 in 2023, November 8 in 2024, November 14 in 2025), and we replace this table the day it does. Until then these are projections. The thresholds are the 2026 ones indexed for CPI-U through August 2026, the method the law sets, which gives a first threshold of $112,000 single and $224,000 joint. The premiums are the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projections, with a $209.50 standard Part B premium. Your 2025 MAGI is what is tested.
| Single MAGI | Joint MAGI | Part B a month | Part B surcharge | Part D surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $112,000 or less | $224,000 or less | $209.50 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| $112,001 to $142,000 | $224,001 to $284,000 | $293.20 | $83.70 | $15.40 |
| $142,001 to $177,000 | $284,001 to $354,000 | $418.90 | $209.40 | $39.70 |
| $177,001 to $212,000 | $354,001 to $424,000 | $544.60 | $335.10 | $64.00 |
| $212,001 to $499,999 | $424,001 to $749,999 | $670.20 | $460.70 | $88.30 |
| $500,000 or more | $750,000 or more | $712.10 | $502.60 | $96.40 |
One uncertainty: the October 2025 CPI reading was never published because of the government shutdown, so the inflation average has 11 months instead of 12. Depending on how that month is handled, the second, third and fourth thresholds could each land $1,000 lower ($2,000 on a joint return). The first is effectively settled. Some published estimates put it at $111,000 single and $222,000 joint. The top tier stays at $500,000 and $750,000, which the law freezes through 2027.
For planning this year’s income, the calculator also has a 2028 option. 2028 is the first year the top tier is indexed too. Those thresholds are our own illustration, about 3% higher than 2027 ($116,000 single and $232,000 joint for the first), with 2027’s projected premiums. Treat them as a guide to how much room you have, not as a forecast.
Which year’s income counts
IRMAA looks back two years. Your 2026 premium uses the MAGI on your 2024 tax return, your 2027 premium uses 2025, and the income you report for 2026 sets your 2028 premium. If that return is not yet available, Social Security uses the one before it and corrects the premium once the newer return is in.
MAGI for IRMAA is adjusted gross income (Form 1040 line 11) plus tax-exempt interest (line 2a). Roth conversions, traditional IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, required minimum distributions, capital gains and the taxable part of Social Security all raise it. Qualified Roth withdrawals and qualified charitable distributions do not.
The IRMAA cliff: what one dollar costs
IRMAA has no phase-in. One dollar over a threshold puts you in the next tier for the whole year. A single filer with 2024 MAGI of $109,001 pays $1,148.40 more in 2026 than one at $109,000, and a couple one dollar over $218,000 pays $2,296.80 more, both with Part D. At the top tier the surcharge is $578.00 a month per person, or $6,936.00 a year.
Roth conversions and IRMAA
A Roth conversion is taxable income in the year you make it, so it raises MAGI and can change your Medicare premium two years later. Because each tier is a cliff, the usual approach is to convert up to a threshold and stop, not a little past it. Enter your expected MAGI, then the conversion in “Extra income you are considering”: the calculator shows the new tier, the added IRMAA a year, and that cost as a share of the conversion, which works like an extra marginal tax rate.
IRMAA is only one cost of a conversion. Income tax is the larger one, and a conversion can also make more of your Social Security taxable. The Roth conversion calculator shows the federal and state tax on a conversion and how much fits in your bracket. Required minimum distributions add income the same way; the RMD calculator shows how large they get.
Ways to lower your MAGI
- From age 70½, a qualified charitable distribution sends up to $111,000 (2026) straight from an IRA to charity. It counts toward your RMD and stays out of AGI.
- Spread Roth conversions over several years so each one stops under a threshold.
- Time capital gains, and harvest losses: capital losses offset gains and up to $3,000 of other income. A gain taxed at 0% federally still counts toward MAGI, so check your tier before harvesting gains with the 0% capital gains calculator.
- Tax-exempt interest still counts for IRMAA, so moving to municipal bonds does not lower it.
- Withdrawals from Roth accounts and from cash savings do not add to MAGI.
How to appeal IRMAA: Form SSA-44
If your income has dropped since the tax year Social Security used, you can ask it to use a more recent year with Form SSA-44. It accepts these life-changing events: marriage; divorce or annulment; death of a spouse; work stoppage; work reduction; loss of income-producing property; loss of pension income; and an employer settlement payment. You can use an estimate of the current year’s income if it will be lower. Retiring counts as a work stoppage, which is the most common reason to file in the first years on Medicare.
Assumptions and sources
The calculator looks up the published tables; it does not estimate your income tax, and Killion’s planner does when you turn tax on in a paid plan, and it applies these IRMAA tiers in every simulated year. The Part D figure is the IRMAA surcharge only, which you pay to Medicare on top of your plan’s own premium. 2027 brackets are projections and 2028 brackets are illustrations, as labelled above. For every 2027 figure in one place, see 2027 retirement numbers.
Figures checked on against CMS, 2026 Medicare Parts A & B premiums and deductibles (Nov 14, 2025), SSA POMS HI 01101.020, IRMAA sliding scale tables, SSA POMS HI 01101.010, modified adjusted gross income, 42 U.S.C. 1395r(i), income-related reduction in premium subsidy, 2026 Medicare Trustees Report (June 9, 2026) and SSA, Form SSA-44 (Medicare income-related monthly adjustment amount, life-changing event).
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