The return that set this year's premium
2026 premiums are set by income from 2 years earlier
Why a two-year-old tax return?
Optional — what your drug plan charges before any surcharge
Income-related surcharge
$0
The surcharge staircase across the income range. The dot is you.
- Part B premium
- $0/mo
- Part D surcharge
- $0/mo
- Income before the next bracket
- —
- What crossing it would add
- —
- Dropping a bracket would save
- —
Medicare IRMAA calculator
Work out your 2026 Part B and Part D surcharge from your 2024 income, and see how close you are to the next bracket.
IRMAA is a surcharge added to Medicare Part B and Part D premiums once income passes a threshold. For 2026 it starts above $109,000 of 2024 MAGI for a single filer and $218,000 for a couple filing jointly, and runs in five steps up to $487.00 a month on Part B plus $91.00 on Part D. It is a cliff, not a taper: one dollar over a threshold applies the whole surcharge for all twelve months.
Reviewed by RuleCost Editorial Team, Editorial Team. Rules for 2026, updated 17 Sept 2026.
How to use it
- 1Choose the filing status from your 2024 tax return, not your current one. If you are married, lived with your spouse and filed separately, pick that option — it has its own, much steeper table.
- 2Enter the MAGI from that 2024 return. That figure is what Social Security uses, and it is settled, so this is a diagnosis rather than something you can still change for 2026.
- 3Optionally add what your Part D drug plan charges, to see the full monthly cost rather than just the surcharge.
- 4Check the distance to the next bracket. If you are close, the income you report for this year is what sets a future year's premium, and that is still in play.
How this calculator works
There is no formula to apply — IRMAA is a lookup. Your MAGI from two years ago decides which row of the table you are on, and that row states the surcharge in dollars. The calculator does the lookup, multiplies by twelve, and then measures the distance to the rows either side of you.
The standard Part B premium for 2026 is $202.90 a month, and the annual Part B deductible is $283. Both apply to everybody. The surcharge is added on top.
The 2026 brackets
Based on MAGI from your 2024 tax return. Part B amounts below are the total monthly premium, including the standard $202.90.
| 2024 MAGI (single) | 2024 MAGI (joint) | Part B total | Part D surcharge | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $218,000 or less | $202.90 | $0.00 | — |
| $109,001–$137,000 | $218,001–$274,000 | $284.10 | $14.50 | $1,148 |
| $137,001–$171,000 | $274,001–$342,000 | $405.80 | $37.50 | $2,885 |
| $171,001–$205,000 | $342,001–$410,000 | $527.50 | $60.40 | $4,620 |
| $205,001–$499,999 | $410,001–$749,999 | $649.20 | $83.30 | $6,355 |
| $500,000 or more | $750,000 or more | $689.90 | $91.00 | $6,936 |
“Cost per year” is the surcharge alone — the Part B and Part D adjustments combined, over twelve months. It is what you pay above someone in the bottom row.
Married filing separately is a different table
If you were married, lived with your spouse at any time during the year, and filed a separate return, you do not get the six-step table. You get three steps, and the middle one starts at the second-highest surcharge in the whole system.
| 2024 MAGI | Part B total | Part D surcharge | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $202.90 | $0.00 | — |
| $109,001–$390,999 | $649.20 | $83.30 | $6,355 |
| $391,000 or more | $689.90 | $91.00 | $6,936 |
The practical effect: $150,000 of MAGI costs a single filer $2,885 for the year and a separate filer $6,355 — a difference of $3,470 for the same income.
What you can still change
Nothing about 2026. That premium was set by a 2024 return that has already been filed.
What is still open is the income you report for the current year, because that is what will set your premium two years from now. The levers people look at are the ones that move MAGI: the timing of Roth conversions, capital gains realisation, and required minimum distributions. Which of those apply, and whether they are a good idea, depends on circumstances well beyond what a calculator can see — this page shows you where the thresholds are, not what to do about them.
Questions
- Why does 2026 use my 2024 income?
- Social Security sets the surcharge from the most recent tax return the IRS has passed to it, which is the return from two years earlier. When your 2026 premium is decided, your 2024 return is the newest one available. It also means that anything you do to your income this year shows up in your premiums two years from now.
- Is IRMAA a cliff or a gradual increase?
- A cliff. Each bracket applies in full the moment your MAGI passes its threshold — there is no phase-in. For a single filer in 2026, MAGI of $109,000 carries no surcharge at all, while $109,001 carries $1,148.40 across the year for Part B and Part D combined.
- Why is married-filing-separately so much worse?
- Because that status has only three steps rather than six, and the middle one starts at the second-highest surcharge. A single filer with $150,000 of MAGI pays $2,884.80 for the year. A married person who lived with their spouse and filed separately, with the same $150,000, pays $6,355.20.
- My income has dropped since 2024. Can I get the surcharge removed?
- Possibly, if the drop came from a specific life-changing event: marriage, divorce or annulment, the death of a spouse, you or your spouse stopping work or cutting hours, loss of income-producing property, loss or reduction of a pension, or an employer settlement payment. Form SSA-44 asks Social Security to use a more recent year instead. A fall in income that does not come from one of those events does not qualify.
- Does the surcharge come out of my Social Security payment?
- The Part B surcharge is normally deducted from the Social Security payment along with the standard premium. The Part D surcharge is separate from what the drug plan itself charges — it is billed by Medicare rather than the plan, even when the plan premium is paid directly.