My wife began Medicare benefits as of Sept 1. She received an invoice from CMS and paid the Medicare Part B premium for September-December ($134*4months). Now, she is starting her SS Retirement benefit as of November (her FRA). The award letter indicates that Part B premiums will be deducted from her monthly checks when they begin in December.
I have two questions:
1) will SSA or CMS automatically refund her for the months where there is a duplicate payment/deduction for Part B premium, or does she need to request this somehow? If it is automatic, how long is it expected to take?
2) Which months should be refunded. Although the December SS Retirement payment is for the month of November, does the Part B Medicare deduction in the December check cover the month of November or is it for the month of December?
I know that this problem is limited to just one or two months of duplicate Part B premium payments, as she will not make any further Part B premium payments directly to CMS now that the SS monthly benefit is starting.

Hi,

Yes, your wife's duplicate Part B Medicare premiums should be refunded automatically within a month or two after her Social Security payments start. If your wife premiums are paid up through December and her first benefit payment is for November, then she will only be due a refund for 1 month. Although Social Security payments are issued in the month following the month that the payment is for, Medicare premiums withheld from the payments are for the month in which the payment is made. In other words, the Part B premium withheld from your wife's payment in December is for that month, even though the benefit payment is for November.

Best, Jerry