My husband passed away in 3/2017 at age 73. We both were getting our SS. He was still working when he died. I got spousal SS after his death. My Medicare part B and D premium keeps on going up every year because of IRMAA based on income 2 years ago. I will get $1 for April and much less SS from May onwards. Same thing happened last year. We both worked longer hours and he worked until 73, we had professional jobs, contributed 13% towards SS taxes. It hurts me to pay very high Part B and Part D premium about $470/pm and get very less SS. I am healthy, mo medical issues. Everybody got cost of living raise and mine went down drastically. Any advice please Thanks and regards.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

If your income was higher than normal 2 years ago due to income resulting from your husband's death, then Social Security may be able to use a more recent tax return on which to base your Medicare premiums. I don't know if that will reduce your premiums, but it may be something you'll want to look into. The form that you'd need to complete and return to Social Security to request a lower premium rate can be found here: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44-ext.pdf.

Best, Jerry