Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDrew WoodSun, July 5, 2026 at 7:09 PM GMT+2 6 min readQuick ReadForm SSA-44 lets retirees swap Medicare's two-year income lookback for current earnings, dropping Part B premiums from $284 to $203 per person monthly.A spouse's death halves IRMAA income thresholds overnight, but filing SSA-44 with a death certificate triggers an immediate recalculation so you do not have to wait two years.Roth conversions, home sales, and capital gains are voluntary events that disqualify filers from SSA-44 relief, leaving any resulting IRMAA surcharge permanently in place.Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here.Two couples retired within weeks of each other in early 2025, ending high-paying careers that had pushed their 2024 income above Medicare's IRMAA thresholds. When their 2026 Medicare bills arrived, one couple paid the standard Part B premium of $202.90 per person. The other paid $284.10 per person, plus a Part D surcharge. The difference was not their retirement date or their 2024 income. It was that one couple filed Form SSA-44, telling Social Security that retirement, a qualifying life-changing event known as work stoppage, had reduced their income and asking Medicare to base their premiums on that lower amount.PeopleImages / Shutterstock.comThe Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA, affects roughly 8% of Medicare Part B beneficiaries. If your household income sits comfortably below the 2026 thresholds of $218,000 for joint filers or $109,000 for single filers, this article likely does not apply to you. But if you retired after a high-earning final work year or had a one-time income spike in 2024, such as from selling a business or taking a large required minimum distribution, you could be paying a surcharge based on income you no longer receive.Read: Are you ahead, or behind on retirement?