Retiring Can Lower Your Medicare Premium. Form SSA-44 Is How You Tell Social Security.
A married couple reported about $260,000 of income in 2025, while one spouse was still working. That spouse retired in mid-2026, and the household now expects about $170,000 for the year. Their 2027 Medicare premiums will still be priced from the 2025 tax return, the one that shows the salary. (A hypothetical, rounded example.)
Retirement counts as a life-changing event for Medicare's income-related surcharge, known as IRMAA. If your income dropped because you or your spouse stopped working, you can ask the Social Security Administration to use a more recent, lower year by filing Form SSA-44. The rule is federal, so it works the same for California retirees as anywhere else, and it applies to Part B and Part D premiums. The request is free, and as of October 2026 SSA accepts it online through a my Social Security account.
How Does Medicare Decide Who Pays the Surcharge?
IRMAA is set from your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) on the federal return from two years earlier. MAGI here means adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest. Your 2027 premiums come from your 2025 return, a lookback we walked through in Your 2026 Tax Return Sets Your 2028 Medicare Premium.
For 2026 premiums, the surcharge begins above $109,000 of MAGI for single filers and $218,000 for joint filers, and the standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month. The 2027 thresholds had not been published as of October 19, 2026. In the example above, $260,000 sits above the first 2026 joint threshold and $170,000 sits below it.
The two-year lag works well when income is steady. It works against you in the year income falls, because the premium keeps tracking a salary that has already ended.
Which Life Changes Qualify, and Which Don't?
SSA describes its list of qualifying events as exclusive. The events are:
- A change in marriage: marriage, divorce or annulment, or the death of a spouse
- Work stoppage or work reduction, by you or your spouse
- Loss of income-producing property, when the loss was not your choice
- Loss of an employer pension
- A settlement payment from a current or former employer because of its bankruptcy or reorganization
SSA's operations manual names retirement as an example of work stoppage. It also lists events that do not qualify, including capital gains from selling property, converting an IRA, cashing bonds, and the voluntary sale of income-producing property. A year with a large gain or a Roth conversion cannot be revisited through this form. The time to manage that income is before the year closes.
Where Do SSA-44 Requests Go Wrong?
Overlooking a spouse's retirement. The qualifying event can belong to either spouse. If the working spouse retires after the other is already on Medicare, the enrolled spouse's surcharge may qualify for a new decision, even though that spouse's own routine did not change.
Treating the premium as the cost of retiring. The IRMAA notice explains how the amount was set. It does not walk you through whether retirement qualifies, so a higher premium in a new retiree's first years can look permanent when it may not be.
Choosing the wrong year. The form asks for the income of a year that reflects the reduction, and that year needs lower MAGI than the year SSA is using. Someone who retired mid-2026 may still have several months of salary in 2026. If 2027 will be lower again, the form has a separate step for that year's estimate.
Estimating too low. SSA checks estimates against the return once it is filed and asks for a copy. If actual MAGI comes in higher, the form says SSA may make corrections later, including retroactive assessments. When an estimate changes, SSA expects you to contact it to update the record.
Leaving out the evidence. SSA asks for proof of the event, such as an employer statement or a retirement letter. Where those aren't available, the form accepts a signed statement under penalty of perjury. A filed return or IRS transcript supports the income figure.
Taking a denial as the last word. If you disagree with SSA's decision, you can request reconsideration. SSA's own guidance notes that a new determination based on a qualifying event often reaches the same result an appeal would.
What Else Does the Retirement Year Touch?
The retirement year is often when other income decisions land: a Roth conversion in the low-income window, the first withdrawals from savings, a severance payment, or a sale of company stock. Each of those shows up in the MAGI you report on the form. A conversion sized without the premium in view can push the new, lower year back over a threshold and undo what the request was meant to fix.
This is the question the Tax Management Journey® is built to answer: how income recognized in one year moves brackets and Medicare premiums across the years that follow. The conversion and the estimate on the form get weighed against the premium two years out, rather than one at a time. It also means the estimate you give SSA should match what your CPA expects the return to show.
What Would a Thoughtful Retiree Do Next?
If you or your spouse stopped or cut back work and your premium includes a surcharge, it is worth checking which tax year SSA used and whether a more recent year would land lower. SSA takes the request online or by phone at 1-800-772-1213, and the current form is posted at ssa.gov.
If you already work with an advisor or CPA, a useful question for your next conversation is whether this year's income plan accounts for the premium it will set, and whether an SSA-44 belongs in that plan.
If you are not getting your questions on this topic answered by your current financial advisor and would like to discuss working with us, you may request a meeting here.