Advantage or Supplement?
Six questions about your doctors, your travel and your budget. Tells you which side of the Medicare fork actually fits — and why.
Find my plan typeFree tool
Which IRMAA bracket am I in?
Higher income means a surcharge on both Part B and Part D. Your 2026 bracket is set by your 2024 tax return — so it is already decided, and you can see it now rather than in a letter.
2026 bracket
Figures are the published 2026 amounts and are calculated in your browser — nothing you enter is sent anywhere or stored.
Social Security makes the actual determination and will send you a notice. This estimator tells you what to expect; it is not that determination, and it does not account for Extra Help, Medicare Savings Programs or an approved life-changing-event reduction.
The 2026 brackets in full
Based on your 2024 modified adjusted gross income. Part B figures are exact; the Part D column is a surcharge added to whatever your chosen drug plan charges, not a total.
| 2024 MAGI — single | 2024 MAGI — joint | Part B / month | Part D surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to $109,000 | Up to $218,000 | $202.90 | — |
| $109,000 – $137,000 | $218,000 – $274,000 | $284.10 | +$14.50 |
| $137,000 – $171,000 | $274,000 – $342,000 | $405.80 | +$37.50 |
| $171,000 – $205,000 | $342,000 – $410,000 | $527.50 | +$60.40 |
| $205,000 – $500,000 | $410,000 – $750,000 | $649.20 | +$83.30 |
| $500,000 and above | $750,000 and above | $689.90 | +$91.00 |
Three things worth knowing
- It is a cliff, not a slope. One dollar over a threshold moves you into the whole bracket. Somebody at $109,001 pays the same surcharge as somebody at $137,000. If you are near an edge, a Roth conversion or a capital gain in December is worth thinking about carefully.
- It is per person. A married couple both on Medicare each pay their own surcharge, based on the same joint income. Double the numbers above for the household.
- It is appealable — sometimes. If your income has dropped since 2024 because of a qualifying life-changing event, you can ask Social Security to use current income instead.
What counts as a life-changing event
Social Security's form SSA-44 lists them: marriage, divorce or annulment, death of a spouse, you or your spouse stopping work or reducing hours, loss of income-producing property, loss of pension income, or an employer settlement payment.
Retirement counts. That is the big one, and the one most people miss. If you retired and your income is now a fraction of what your 2024 return showed, you are very likely paying a surcharge you do not owe. Filing SSA-44 with proof of the event and your current income is usually straightforward — and it is worth real money.
Simply having a good year in 2024 and a worse one since is not on the list. Neither is a one-off capital gain. The event has to be one of the eight.
Other tools
While you're here.
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2 min -
1 min Enrollment Window Checker
Enter your birthday and get your exact Initial Enrollment Period dates, your Medigap open enrollment window, and the deadlines that carry lifetime penalties.
Check my dates -
3 min Annual Cost Estimator
Compare what a year on a Medicare Advantage plan versus a Supplement plus Part D would realistically cost you — premiums, deductibles and expected visits included.
Estimate my year
Next step
Let’s look at your actual options.
One conversation, no cost, no obligation. Bring your prescription list and your doctors — that is all it takes to do real work. You’ll speak to Brian Penner directly.