Your spouse passed away, reducing your household income. If a life change has dropped your income, you don't have to wait two years for your tax return to catch up — Form SSA-44 lets you ask Social Security to reduce your Part B and Part D surcharge now. Here's a worked 2026 example and the exact filing steps.
Quick answer: Your spouse passed away, reducing your household income. is one of the eight life-changing events on Form SSA-44 that let you ask Social Security to lower your Medicare IRMAA before the two-year lookback catches up. In the worked example below, that drop clears the surcharge entirely — saving about $240/month ($2,885/year).
Medicare's income-related surcharge (IRMAA) for 2026 is set from your 2024 tax return. When death of a spouse lowers your income after that, the old figure keeps inflating your premium until your newer return finally posts — often two years later. Form SSA-44 short-circuits that wait: you report the life-changing event and your current income, and Social Security recomputes the surcharge. In the example above, an IRMAA of $240.40/month (a married filing jointly filer) becomes $0.00/month after the change — worth about $2,885 a year. This event also changes your tax filing status (from married filing jointly to single), which shifts which IRMAA thresholds apply to you — SSA-44 captures both the income and the status change on one form.
Losing a spouse usually removes a large share of household income — a pension, Social Security, or wages that no longer come in. Because your prior IRMAA was set from a joint return, SSA-44 lets you report the loss and have the surcharge recalculated on your reduced income.
IRMAA has two parts: an add-on to the standard Part B premium ($202.90 in 2026) and a separate Part D surcharge. In the example, a married filing jointly income of $280,000 lands in an IRMAA tier where Part B is $405.80/mo — that's $202.90 above standard — plus a $37.50 Part D surcharge, so $240.40/month of total IRMAA. After death of a spouse, income of $95,000 falls back under the single threshold, where there is no surcharge at all: Part B returns to the $202.90 standard and the Part D surcharge is $0. The whole $240.40/month disappears — $2,884.80 a year.
Enter your real income and filing status to see your exact 2026 Part B + Part D surcharge — and what you'd pay if this life-changing event drops you a bracket.
Open the 2026 IRMAA Calculator →Download Form SSA-44 (“Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount – Life-Changing Event”) from SSA.gov. In Step 1, mark Death of a Spouse as your life-changing event and enter its date. In Step 2, report the tax year your income dropped and your reduced Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) — and, if you also expect a further drop next year, use Step 3. Attach a copy of the death certificate and a statement of your new, current income. Sign it and either mail it to your local Social Security office, fax it, or bring it in person. There is no strict deadline, but file as soon as the event happens — SSA can only adjust going forward, so every month you wait is a surcharge you don't get back. Most beneficiaries hear back within a few weeks.
Yes. Your spouse passed away, reducing your household income. is one of the eight official life-changing events Social Security accepts on Form SSA-44. As long as the event genuinely lowered your income (or changed your filing status) versus the 2024 return that set your 2026 premium, SSA can recompute your Part B and Part D surcharge on your newer, lower income instead of making you wait for your tax return to catch up.
Your 2026 Part B and Part D surcharges are set from your 2024 tax return — a two-year lookback. That is exactly why SSA-44 exists: it lets you substitute more recent income when a qualifying life-changing event has since lowered it, instead of waiting two years for your tax return to catch up.
You can appeal a denial by requesting a reconsideration (Form SSA-561) and, if needed, a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. Keep copies of every document you submit. If your income also changed for reasons that aren't on the SSA-44 list, you may still get relief automatically once your newer tax return is on file.
Walking a client through an SSA-44 that saves them $2,884.80/year is the kind of service that keeps a book of business for life. Our Medicare agent toolkits include IRMAA-appeal worksheets, a client CRM, and a 60-day renewal radar so no high-income client slips away.
See the Medicare agent tools on Etsy →The life-changing events and 2026 figures on this page are verified against U.S. government primary sources: