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[quote=Anonymous]OP here: Sorry this is part vent/part question/part PSA.

I have a pretty good handle on what the SS benefit should be and there should be NO IRMAA adjustment.  But getting SS to correct things is a huge hassle.  In DH's case, he was double charged for Medicare (not claiming SS yet) by 100% for the first half of 2022.  He filed a paper IRMAA correction and got 2 conflicting letters and 2 conflicting phone responses.  Eventually he got a check back for the overpayment of the Part D that we had paid to SS.  But the overpayment of Part B was never refunded; instead, without any explanation, they just stopped charging us for his Medicare Part B for the second half of the year and will presumably start charging again when the overpayments have been exhausted.  The IRMAA surcharge is often calculated incorrectly for new retirees because it is based on the income you had 2 years ago, when you were working.  I suppose a lot of people just give up and pay the excess amount. The letters say to let them know "if you disagree" and a lot of people with proposed IRMAA surcharges should be disagreeing because SS uses information from 2 years ago when you were probably working.  Depending on your income, this can easily be several thousand dollar.  Fortunately, this should be our last year having to dispute it for a while since the charges for 2024 will be based on 2022, our first full post-retirement year.  RMDs will probably cause us to have to pay legitimate IRMAA, depending on the thresholds in place once those kick in. We'll deal with that when the time comes.

This time, both of us are being proposed IRMAA surcharges because the Medicare premiums are based on 2021, DH's final year of work.  Beginning in 2022, our income was well under the IRMAA threshold; FYI, that threshold is $194,000 for 2023. Since the correction was handled so poorly for 2022, we were hoping to be proactive and settle it before 2023 in the local office with a SS employee.  Their phone message at the local office encourages appointments, but the unhelpful teleworker employee said "no, you have to wait in line" and apparently the line starts before they open and is outside.  Okay, we'll wait in line, but why expressly include an offer to make an appointment when they have no intention to take appointments?  (Early on in 2022, DH also had some other bizarre experiences like being directed on the website to a closed SSA office in Fairfax, then locked out of the Reston one when he went to drop off his IRMAA  paperwork.) Suffice it to say, this is not how a government office or any service should be run.  I'm sure it will be exacerbated by the changes in benefits and charges for 2023.

In addition to the IRMAA issue, since I have received three conflicting letters, there are some other issues that I have to get clarification on that have to do with my SS benefits to start on 1/1/2023. It would have been very helpful to get an appointment instead of having to wait outside in whatever weather there may be.

Since we knew the timeline from when my DH applied for Medicare, I did start the process 90 days before my first month of eligibility. Besides the possibility that IRMAA will be incorrectly calculated for people who were working (or whose spouse was working 2 years ago), the three month lead time is another important thing to keep in mind. Note: it's three months from the first day of the month of your birthday, not three months before your birthday.

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