Medicare IRMAA Planner United States

What the Medicare IRMAA planner does

The planner estimates the income-related monthly adjustment amount added to your Medicare premiums. Most people pay the standard Part B premium; beneficiaries with higher income pay a surcharge on Part B and on the Part D drug benefit as well. The tool matches your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and filing status to the right bracket and shows the monthly surcharge, the total Part B premium and the annual cost.

IRMAA catches many people out because it uses income from two years earlier and because the brackets are cliffs. Going one dollar over a threshold raises your premiums for the whole year, so it helps to know how close you are to each line.

How IRMAA is structured

Each income tier has a fixed Part B surcharge and a fixed Part D surcharge, charged per month and per beneficiary, on top of the base Part B premium. The tool reads the current base premium and bracket tables, finds the first tier whose ceiling is at or above your MAGI, and returns the surcharges for that tier.

The single and joint tables use different thresholds, with the joint ones set higher, so the same MAGI can land in different tiers depending on your filing status. Pick the status you actually file under.

Why the two-year lookback matters

Medicare normally sets your surcharge for a year from the MAGI on your tax return two years earlier, so a 2026 surcharge generally reflects 2024 income. The income decisions you make now affect your premiums two years from now, and a recent drop in income does not show up in your current premium on its own.

If your income fell because of a life-changing event such as retirement, the death of a spouse or the loss of a pension, you can ask the Social Security Administration to use more recent income by filing Form SSA-44. That can remove or reduce a surcharge based on a higher-earning year.

Planning around the brackets

Near a threshold, one more dollar of income can cost hundreds of dollars a year in higher premiums, while staying just below the line avoids the surcharge. That makes IRMAA a factor in several common retirement decisions.

Roth conversions are the usual example. A conversion raises MAGI in the year you do it, which can trigger or raise IRMAA two years later, so many retirees size conversions to stop short of the next bracket. Capital gains, required minimum distributions and large one-time withdrawals work the same way. Tax-exempt municipal bond interest also counts toward MAGI for IRMAA. Run your expected MAGI through the planner before making these moves to see how much room you have before the next threshold.

Reading your result

The output shows the monthly surcharge split into its Part B and Part D parts, and the total Part B premium with the surcharge added. It also reports the annual surcharge per person and, with the beneficiaries field set to two, the combined annual cost for a couple who are both enrolled, since each spouse pays the surcharge.

The Part D surcharge is added to whatever premium your drug plan charges. You can enter your plan premium so the chart shows your full monthly Medicare cost, but the surcharge itself depends on your income, not on the plan.

When to use this tool

The planner is most useful in the years just before and during retirement, when you have the most control over your income. Use it when deciding how much to convert to a Roth, when timing capital gains or withdrawals, when budgeting for Medicare, or when checking whether a life-changing event might qualify you for relief. You can test several income figures and see which bracket each one falls into.

IRMAA thresholds and premiums change every year, so recheck your estimate annually and whenever your income changes.

This is general information only and not financial or tax advice.

About This Medicare IRMAA Calculator

Use this Medicare IRMAA calculator to get an instant, accurate estimate. The figures follow official guidance and every rate and threshold is kept up to date for 2026. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.