IRMAA Calculator (2026 Medicare Surcharge)
↻ Updated 2026See which of the six 2026 IRMAA tiers your 2024 Modified Adjusted Gross Income falls into, and how much a single extra dollar of income near a threshold would have cost you — Medicare's surcharge cliffs have no ramp.
Educational calculators — always consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
This is what 2024 MAGI of $150,000 costs you every month of 2026, over the $202.90 standard Part B premium everyone else pays — regardless of which Medicare Advantage or Part D plan you actually picked.
| Boundary | Just below | Right at the cliff | Jump, per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $109,001 | $109,000 → $202.90/mo | $109,001 → $298.60/mo | +$1,148 |
| $137,001 | $137,000 → $298.60/mo | $137,001 → $443.30/mo | +$1,736 |
| $171,001 | $171,000 → $443.30/mo | $171,001 → $587.90/mo | +$1,735 |
| $205,001 | $205,000 → $587.90/mo | $205,001 → $732.50/mo | +$1,735 |
| $500,000 | $499,999 → $732.50/mo | $500,000 → $780.90/mo | +$581 |
Every row is the same MAGI, one dollar apart. IRMAA has no ramp — crossing a threshold by a single dollar of 2024 MAGI moves your entire 2026premium to the next tier’s number, not a prorated amount. There is no phase-in.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to us.How this works
How to read your IRMAA result
IRMAA is a surcharge, not a rate — Medicare doesn't charge you a percentage of your income, it looks up which of six brackets your 2024 MAGI landed in and bills you that bracket's flat dollar amount for every month of 2026. On the defaults, a single filer with $150,000 of 2024 MAGI lands one tier above the standard premium: $405.80 for Part B instead of $202.90, plus a $37.50 Part D surcharge — $2,884.80 a year that has nothing to do with which Medicare Advantage or drug plan they actually picked.
How Medicare IRMAA surcharges are calculated
IRMAA runs on a two-year lookback: the premium you pay in a given year is set from the Modified Adjusted Gross Income on the tax return filed two years earlier (three years earlier only if SSA has no return for the two-years-prior year). So 2026 Part B and Part D premiums are priced off 2024 MAGI.
MAGI for this purpose is your adjusted gross income (Form 1040, line 11) plus tax-exempt interest (Form 1040, line 2a) — it is not your taxable income, and it is not affected by the standard deduction.
MAGI = AGI (1040 line 11) + tax-exempt interest (1040 line 2a) 2026 tiers, single / head of household (2024 MAGI): ≤ $109,000 → Part B $202.90 Part D +$0.00 > $109,000–$137,000 → Part B $284.10 Part D +$14.50 > $137,000–$171,000 → Part B $405.80 Part D +$37.50 > $171,000–$205,000 → Part B $527.50 Part D +$60.40 > $205,000–<$500,000 → Part B $649.20 Part D +$83.30 ≥ $500,000 → Part B $689.90 Part D +$91.00 2026 tiers, married filing jointly — same shape, thresholds ×2: ≤$218,000 / >$218k–274k / >274k–342k / >342k–410k / >410k–<750k / ≥$750,000 2026 tiers, married filing separately — only two surcharge tiers: ≤ $109,000 → Part B $202.90 Part D +$0.00 > $109,000–<$391,000 → Part B $649.20 Part D +$83.30 ≥ $391,000 → Part B $689.90 Part D +$91.00
- MAGI
- Modified Adjusted Gross Income — AGI plus tax-exempt interest, from the 2024 return that sets 2026 premiums
- tiers
- The six fixed brackets Part B and Part D surcharges are read off — identical dollar tiers for Part B and Part D; only the thresholds and the dollar amounts differ
- Part B
- Total monthly Part B premium, standard plus any surcharge — $202.90 standard for 2026; surcharge tiers add $81.20 to $487.00 on top
- Part D
- The IRMAA add-on for prescription drug coverage — billed separately from, and in addition to, your plan's own premium
The mechanism that makes this dangerous is that it is a cliff, not a ramp: crossing a threshold by one dollar moves your entire premium to the next tier's number, with no phase-in and no partial surcharge. A $150,000 MAGI and a $150,001 MAGI can sit in different tiers if $150,000 happens to fall near a boundary; the calculator's cliff table below shows this at every threshold, one dollar apart, for whichever filing status you select. The same non-linearity is why the Roth conversion calculator calls out IRMAA specifically: a conversion that looks cheap on the federal tax brackets alone can be far more expensive once the two-years-later Medicare surcharge is added in.
Worked examples
Example: a single filer with $150,000 of 2024 MAGI
The calculator's defaults — single filing status, $150,000 of 2024 MAGI, which sets 2026 premiums.
| Tierabove $137,000, at or below $171,000 | 2 of 5 |
| Part B total premium$202.90 surcharge over the $202.90 standard premium | $405.80/mo |
| Part D IRMAA surchargeon top of the drug plan's own premium | $37.50/mo |
| Combined monthly surcharge$202.90 + $37.50 | $240.40 |
| Annual IRMAA cost$240.40 × 12 | $2,884.80 |
$150,000 of MAGI two years ago costs this filer $2,884.80 in 2026 — over and above whatever Part B and Part D would otherwise cost. None of that number moved because of anything that happened in 2026; it was locked in by the 2024 return.
Example: the cliff at a married-filing-jointly threshold
A married couple filing jointly with $274,000 of 2024 MAGI, compared with the same couple at $274,001 — one dollar more.
| At $274,000 — tier 1Part B $284.10 + Part D $14.50 | $298.60/mo |
| At $274,001 — tier 2Part B $405.80 + Part D $37.50 | $443.30/mo |
| Monthly jump for one extra dollar of MAGI | $144.70 |
| Annual jump, per enrolled spouse | $1,736.40 |
One additional dollar of 2024 MAGI cost this couple $1,736.40 for the year, per Medicare-enrolled spouse — $3,472.80 if both are on Medicare. There is no partial surcharge for being one dollar over; the whole tier moves.
Frequently asked questions
What income determines my 2026 IRMAA?
Your Modified Adjusted Gross Income from your 2024 federal tax return. SSA's rule is a two-year lookback — "2026 premiums are generally based on 2024 tax return information" — and only reaches back a third year, to 2023, if the IRS has not yet provided SSA your 2024 return (SSA POMS HI 01101.010).
That means income changes in 2025 or 2026 have no effect on your 2026 premium. A 2026 Roth conversion or unusually large RMD sets your 2028 premium, not this year's.
What exactly counts as MAGI for IRMAA?
The sum of two lines from Form 1040: adjusted gross income (line 11) plus tax-exempt interest income (line 2a) — for example, interest from municipal bonds (SSA POMS HI 01101.010). It is not your taxable income and is not reduced by the standard or itemized deduction.
This is a broader figure than what most tax brackets use, which is why municipal-bond interest that is federally tax-free still pulls a retiree toward an IRMAA threshold even though it never appears in their taxable income.
Are the IRMAA thresholds a sliding scale or hard cliffs?
Hard cliffs. CMS and SSA both publish the tiers as "more than $X but less than or equal to $Y" bands, each with one fixed premium amount — there is no proration for landing near a boundary (CMS 2026 fact sheet; SSA POMS HI 01101.020).
The practical effect: $1 of MAGI at the wrong moment — an extra dividend, a bond called early, a slightly larger IRA withdrawal — can cost the same as $27,999 more of MAGI would, if it's the dollar that crosses a threshold.
Can I appeal or get IRMAA reduced?
Only for specific SSA-recognized life-changing events — among them marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, work stoppage or reduction, and loss of income-producing property — filed on Form SSA-44 with evidence of the more recent, lower income.
A voluntary income event like a Roth conversion or an unusually large capital gain does not qualify, even though it raises MAGI the same way. If your income has simply grown, or if the increase came from a choice you made rather than a listed life event, SSA-44 will not change your determination.
Does IRMAA apply per person or per tax return?
Per Medicare enrollee, against the household's shared MAGI. A married couple filing jointly with both spouses on Medicare each individually pay the surcharge that their combined MAGI's tier calls for — it is not split or halved between them.
So a couple both enrolled in Medicare Part B and Part D effectively pays this calculator's monthly figure twice, once for each spouse, even though only one MAGI number determined both amounts.
What this IRMAA calculator doesn't handle
The six tiers and their dollar amounts are exact and verified against CMS and SSA. Everything specific to your Medicare plan choices and personal circumstances is not modeled.
- Your actual Part D plan premium — The Part D figure shown is only the IRMAA add-on. It is billed on top of whatever premium your specific Part D or Medicare Advantage drug plan charges, which this page does not know.
- Medicare Advantage premium reductions — Some Medicare Advantage plans offer a Part B premium give-back or reduction. This calculator shows the standard IRMAA schedule before any such plan-specific rebate.
- Medicaid / QMB and other assistance programs — Beneficiaries with Medicaid, Extra Help, or Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) status may have premiums paid or reduced through those programs, which this page does not account for.
- The three-year lookback edge case — If SSA has no 2024 return on file, it uses 2023 MAGI instead. This page always assumes a 2024 return is available, per the standard case in SSA POMS HI 01101.010.
- Appeals and life-changing events — Form SSA-44 can reset a determination for specific qualifying events. This calculator shows the standard, unappealed determination only.
- Not financial or tax advice — An educational estimate of the published 2026 tiers. Confirm your own IRMAA determination notice with SSA before making a decision that depends on it.
Rates, brackets and limits here are checked against primary sources. If a number still looks off, email support@realmoneyiq.com and we'll review and fix it.
RealMoneyIQ provides free educational calculators, not financial, tax, investment or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the assumptions you enter and publicly published rates; your actual outcome will differ. Always confirm decisions with a licensed professional who knows your full situation.