Filing Form SSA-44 after retirement eliminates IRMAA surcharges built on prior-year income, saving top-tier enrollees $6,936 per year in avoidable Medicare premiums.
SSA-44 covers eight qualifying events including retirement and spousal death but cannot reverse voluntary income spikes like Roth conversions or RMDs.
A spouse's death halves IRMAA thresholds overnight, potentially triggering $6,355 in annual surcharges even when household income stays completely flat.
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Two women retired from the same Boston law firm in March 2026. Both turned 65 that month, and both had identical 2024 W-2 income above $500,000. In April, each received a Medicare enrollment notice quoting a Part B premium of $689.90 per month. One paid it. The other filed Form SSA-44, attached proof that she had stopped working, and asked Social Security to use her lower 2026 income instead.