Medicare IRMAA Calculator (2026): Surcharge and Income Cliffs

Find your 2026 Medicare Part B and Part D income-related surcharge (IRMAA), how many dollars of income you have before the next line, and what one dollar over it costs. From the CMS 2026 tables and the Social Security Act.

How the tax return was filed

Adjusted gross income (Form 1040 line 11)$105,000

For 2026 premiums Social Security looks at the tax return for 2024 (two years back). To plan, put in the income you expect two years before the premium year; the dollar lines will be higher by then (see the questions below).

Tax-exempt interest (Form 1040 line 2a)

Part B (medical)Part D (drug plan)

What if: extra income in that year (Roth conversion, IRA withdrawal, capital gain)

Your Medicare surcharge in 2026

$0.00a month

MAGI $105,000: below the first line, so no surcharge. Part B: $202.90 a month in all ($202.90 standard + $0.00). Part D: your plan's own premium + $0.00.

Where the lines are

You can add $4,000 of MAGI before the next line ($109,001). One dollar over it adds $1,148.40 to the year, because the surcharge is a step, not a percentage.

What if you add $20,000?

MAGI becomes $125,000. The surcharge goes up: $95.70 a month, $1,148.40 a year. The extra income costs $1,148.40 in Medicare surcharges (5.7% of the amount added), on top of the income tax on it.

Extra income in a year raises the Medicare premium two years later. The dollar lines are indexed to inflation, so for a future premium year they will be higher than the 2026 lines used here.

All tiers for this filing status

Medicare Part B and Part D income-related monthly adjustment amounts for 2026 by modified adjusted gross income
MAGI	Part B total	Part D adds	Surcharge a year
Up to $109,000	$202.90	–	$0.00
$109,001 to $137,000	$284.10	$14.50	$1,148.40
$137,001 to $171,000	$405.80	$37.50	$2,884.80
$171,001 to $205,000	$527.50	$60.40	$4,620.00
$205,001 to $499,999	$649.20	$83.30	$6,355.20
$500,000 and over	$689.90	$91.00	$6,936.00

Per person, for the parts ticked. “Part B total” is the standard premium plus the surcharge; the Part D amount is added to whatever your drug plan charges.

Not modelled: the Part B premium itself if you are not on the standard amount (for example, if Medicaid pays it or you pay a late-enrollment penalty); the Part D plan's own premium; Medicare Advantage plan premiums; income lines for any year other than 2026; MAGI adjustments for foreign income exclusions and certain savings bond interest (the statute adds those back); an appeal after a life-changing event, which can use a more recent year; and the Part B immunosuppressive-drug-only premium.

Estimate only, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 2026 tables. Not financial advice or tax advice: Social Security decides your amount from the return the IRS gives it, and its letter is the authority. Check a Roth conversion or other planning step with a tax professional.

Frequently asked questions

Q.What is IRMAA and what are the 2026 income lines?

IRMAA is the income-related monthly adjustment amount: people with higher income pay more than the standard Medicare Part B premium ($203 a month in 2026) and add a surcharge to their Part D drug plan premium. The law (Social Security Act § 1839(i)) sets the percentage of Part B's cost that you pay, from 25% for everyone up to 35%, 50%, 65%, 80% or 85% as income rises. For 2026, CMS puts the lines for someone filing as single (and others not filing jointly) at $109,000, $137,000, $171,000, $205,000 and $500,000, and for a joint return at $218,000, $274,000, $342,000, $410,000 and $750,000. The calculator shows every tier for your filing status.

About 8% of people with Part B pay a surcharge, according to CMS.

Q.Which year's income decides my 2026 premium?

The tax return from two years earlier. For 2026 premiums Social Security uses your 2024 return (filed in 2025); if the IRS has not given it the 2024 data it uses 2023 (Social Security Act § 1839(i)(4)(B); SSA's premiums page). So income you take in 2026 sets your 2028 premium, and that is why a large Roth conversion or capital gain this year is a Medicare question two years from now. If you filed a 2024 return, or did not need to file one, and Social Security used 2023, tell them and they will update the record.

Q.What counts as MAGI for Medicare?

Modified adjusted gross income here is your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest (SSA; Social Security Act § 1839(i)(4)(A), which also adds back a few foreign-income and savings-bond items the calculator does not model). It is not your taxable income after the standard deduction, and it is not Social Security or Medicare's idea of “income” in any other sense. Everything that is in adjusted gross income counts: wages, the taxable part of Social Security and pensions, IRA withdrawals, the taxable amount of a Roth conversion and capital gains. Qualified Roth IRA withdrawals are not in adjusted gross income, so they do not count.

Q.Is it really a cliff?

Yes. The surcharge is a fixed amount for each tier, not a percentage of the income above the line. A single filer with MAGI of $109,000 pays no surcharge; at $109,001 the Part B surcharge is $81.20 and the Part D surcharge $14.50 a month, $1,148 over the year ($1,148 for one dollar). For a married couple filing jointly with both on Medicare, the first line is $218,000 and crossing it by a dollar costs the pair $2,297a year. Because of the two-year delay, you cannot see the result until the Social Security letter arrives.

Q.Why is married filing separately so costly?

If you are married, lived with your spouse at any time in the year and file a separate return, CMS's table has only three rows: nothing up to $109,000, then, from $109,001 straight to the fifth tier ($6,355 a year per person for Part B and Part D together), then a higher amount from $391,000. A couple whose combined income is far below the joint-return lines can pay more by filing separately; a Medicare enrollee should compare the whole tax result, not only the Medicare premium, before choosing a filing status.

Q.Can I get the surcharge reduced?

If your income has gone down since the return Social Security used, you can ask them to use a more recent year after a life-changing event: marriage, divorce or the death of a spouse; you or your spouse stopping work or cutting hours; loss of income-producing property to a disaster or other event outside your control; an employer pension plan ending or being reorganized; or a settlement from an employer that closed or went bankrupt (SSA; § 1839(i)(4)(C)). You need to document the event and the drop in income, using Form SSA-44. A decision you disagree with can be appealed. Choosing to retire is a qualifying work stoppage for many people, which is why IRMAA often falls in the first years after retirement.

Q.Will the lines change in 2027?

Yes, the dollar lines are indexed to inflation and rounded to the nearest $1,000 each year (§ 1839(i)(5)), so the 2027 lines will be higher than the 2026 ones used here; the exception is the top line ($500,000 single, $750,000 joint), which the statute holds fixed until 2028. CMS publishes the next year's premiums and adjustment amounts in the autumn; this calculator is for the 2026 premium year and is updated when the new table comes out.