My question is related to IRMAA. I retired at the end of Dec 2019. Prior to my retirement I was paying a considerable premium for Part B Medicare which is taken out of my social security. I had no idea at the time I retired what my retirement annuity would be but I knew my income would be considerably less. Since I didn't know what my total income for 2020 would be I decided to wait until my 2020 income tax was completed to file an SSA-44. After my taxes were complete, based on SSA info, I very much overpaid for all of 2020 and so far in 2021. I submitted the SSA-44 in Feb 2021 via certified mail and provided all supporting documentation. It's now early May and I've yet to hear anything from the local SSA office I submitted to. My question is two part. First, is it reasonable for it to take this long to hear something from my local SSA office? Second, it’s logical to me that since I provided my tax return for 2020 and provided documentation that I retired the end of 2019, that I should be able to get a refund for the overpayment in 2020 in addition to the overpayment for 2021. Am I wrong? Thanks.

Hi. Yes, your retirement would count as a life changing event (LCE) and Social Security can then use a more recent tax year to base your Part B Medicare premium rate. So, it certainly sounds like you'll be able to get a refund of any excess Part B premiums that you paid.

I can't tell you how long it will take for Social Security to process your request, though. I think they've built up a larger than normal backlog of work to be processed due to the pandemic and understaffing, so you'll probably just need to be patient and follow up with them periodically.

Best, Jerry