Form SSA-44: Lower Your Medicare IRMAA After Retiring

What is Form SSA-44?

If your Medicare Part B or prescription drug coverage premiums include an income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA), Social Security based it on the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) from an older federal tax return. The 12-2025 edition says that is your 2024 return, or your 2023 return if 2024 wasn't available. Form SSA-44 asks Social Security to use a more recent year instead, when a life-changing event has reduced your income.

The events it covers are marriage, divorce or annulment, death of your spouse, work stoppage, work reduction, loss of income-producing property, loss of pension income, and an employer settlement payment. Retirement is the most common: stopping work counts as a work stoppage. You report your actual or estimated MAGI for the more recent year and your filing status, optionally an even lower estimate for the next year, and you provide proof of both the event and the income.

VergeHR guides you through all five steps, adds up your MAGI as you go, checks that the event dates and tax years line up the way the instructions require, and prints every digit onto the right underscore of the official SSA-44 PDF. It pre-fills your name from Files's employee records and files the finished PDF in your Files folder. VergeHR never submits anything to Social Security.

Who fills it: Medicare beneficiaries who pay an IRMAA and whose income fell because of a life-changing event.
Asks for: Use of a more recent tax year's MAGI (actual or estimated) to recalculate your IRMAA.
Evidence: Proof of the life-changing event (originals or certified copies) and of your MAGI (a signed tax return or IRS transcript, if filed).
Signed: By you in Step 5, with your phone number and current mailing address.
Alternative: Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to schedule an interview at a Social Security office instead.
Edition: Form SSA-44 (12-2025), OMB No. 0960-0784

Who needs to fill out Form SSA-44?

Retirees whose IRMAA is based on the income they earned before they stopped working.
People who cut their hours or took a lower-paid job, or whose spouse did.
Newly married, divorced or widowed beneficiaries whose filing status or household income changed.
Anyone who lost pension income because an employer's plan was terminated or reorganized.
People who lost income-producing property in a declared disaster, to arson, or to investment fraud or theft, or who received an employer settlement payment after a bankruptcy or reorganization.

When to Use Form SSA-44

After you receive a notice that your Part B or prescription drug premiums include an IRMAA and a life-changing event has reduced your income.
Not if your MAGI was below the first IRMAA threshold: the form says if you don't have to pay an IRMAA, you should not fill it out even if you had a life-changing event.
The event must be in the same year as, or earlier than, the tax year you ask Social Security to use.
Not to report that you were married filing separately but lived apart from your spouse all year: the form says to call Social Security for that instead.

What You Need Before You Start

Your name and your own Social Security number as they appear on your Social Security card.
The IRMAA notice from Social Security, which tells you which tax year it used.
The month and year of each life-changing event.
Your adjusted gross income (IRS Form 1040, line 11) and tax-exempt interest (line 2a) for the more recent year, actual or estimated, and your filing status.
Evidence of the event, for example a marriage certificate, divorce decree, death certificate, a statement from your employer or pay stubs, an insurance adjuster's statement, or a letter from your pension fund administrator.
A signed copy of your tax return or an IRS transcript for that year, if you have filed it.

What’s On Form SSA-44

The 2025 edition has 8 pages. VergeHR asks for it in 5 parts, and it is signed by Medicare beneficiary:

Your name and Social Security numberMedicare beneficiary
Step 1: Type of life-changing eventMedicare beneficiary
Step 2: Your reduced income (a year after the one SSA used)Medicare beneficiary
Step 3: Will your income be even lower next year?Medicare beneficiary
Step 5: Contact detailsMedicare beneficiary

How to fill out Form SSA-44, step by step

1 Page 1: Name, SSN and the IRMAA table

Enter your name and Social Security number. Page 1 also shows the table Social Security used: the monthly adjustments for Part B and prescription drug coverage by filing status and MAGI range. On this edition the adjustments start above $109,000 of MAGI for single filers and above $218,000 for married couples filing jointly.

2 Step 1: Type of life-changing event

Tick each event that reduced your income: marriage, divorce/annulment, death of your spouse, work stoppage, work reduction, loss of income-producing property, loss of pension income or an employer settlement payment, and give the month and year each happened.

3 Step 2: Reductions in income that have already occurred

Pick a more recent tax year than the one Social Security used, then enter your adjusted gross income, tax-exempt interest and filing status for it. Choose this year if your MAGI will be lower this year than last year; otherwise choose last year. VergeHR shows your MAGI (the two figures added together) but only the two figures print.

4 Step 3: Anticipated reductions next year

If you expect your MAGI to be even lower the following year, answer Yes and give that year's estimated income and filing status. Social Security records it and uses it next year. If you answer No, it keeps using your Step 2 figures until the IRS sends newer information or you update them.

5 Steps 4 and 5: Evidence and signature

Attach the required evidence of your MAGI and your life-changing event (Social Security mails originals and certified copies back to you), or show them to an SSA employee. Then sign and give your phone number and current mailing address so Social Security can contact you with questions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using the form when you don't pay an IRMAA at all.
Picking a tax year that isn't more recent than the one in Social Security's letter, or a year before the life-changing event.
Entering gross wages instead of adjusted gross income from line 11 of Form 1040, or forgetting tax-exempt interest from line 2a.
Sending no proof of the event. The form requires original documents or certified copies, though for a work stoppage or reduction your signed statement on the form can be accepted if you have no other proof.
Not updating Social Security if your estimate changes or you amend your return, which can lead to corrections later.
Forgetting to sign Step 5 or leaving out your phone number and mailing address.

After You Fill It Out

Sign the form and send or bring it to Social Security with your evidence, or show the originals to an SSA employee. If you'd rather talk it through, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) for an appointment at your local office.

If you gave an estimate, Social Security will later check it with the IRS and ask for a copy of your tax return once you file. If your estimate changes, contact them to update it.

VergeHR keeps the completed SSA-44 in your Files folder alongside your Medicare card and IRMAA notice, so you have what you sent if Social Security asks follow-up questions.

Fill Out Form SSA-44 Online with VergeHR

Pick the employee. Choose an employee and VergeHR fills in their name, date of birth, email and other details it already knows.
Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 30 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real Social Security Administration (SSA) form, and let VergeHR do any worksheet arithmetic.
Generate the official PDF. VergeHR prints your answers into the agency’s own PDF and files it with that employee’s documents. Sign it, or send it for e-signature.

VergeHR fills the form — it never files or submits anything for you. Deliver the finished form to whoever asked for it, the way the form’s instructions say.

Start Form SSA-44 Now — It’s Free

Form SSA-44: frequently asked questions

Can I fill out Form SSA-44 online?

Yes. VergeHR guides you through each step and fills your answers into Social Security's official SSA-44 PDF, ready to sign and send with your evidence.

Does retirement count as a life-changing event for IRMAA?

Yes. Stopping work is a 'work stoppage' on the form, and reducing your hours is a 'work reduction'. It applies if you or your spouse stopped or reduced work.

Which tax year should I put in Step 2?

A year more recent than the one in Social Security's letter. The instructions say to choose this year (the premium year) if your MAGI will be lower this year than last year, and last year otherwise. If Social Security used a return from three years before the premium year, you may ask it to use the one from two years before.

Can I use an estimate if I haven't filed my taxes yet?

Yes. Enter your estimated adjusted gross income and tax-exempt interest. Social Security will check it with the IRS later and ask for a copy of your tax return when you file.

What proof do I need for a work stoppage?

An original signed statement from your employer, copies of pay stubs, or original or certified documents showing a transfer of your business. Without such proof, the form says Social Security will accept your signed statement on the form, under penalty of perjury, that you stopped or reduced work.

Should I use the SSA-44 if I filed separately but lived apart from my spouse?

No. The form says to call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to explain that you lived apart from your spouse, and not to use the form for that.

Do I have to use the form?

No. The instructions say you can instead call 1-800-772-1213 and ask for an appointment at a field office to request that a more recent tax year be used.

Official Sources

Blank form (PDF), published by Social Security Administration (SSA): https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf
Official instructions and guidance: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf
Edition shown on this page: Form SSA-44 (12-2025) (OMB No. 0960-0784) (checked 2026-09-28).

VergeHR is not affiliated with or endorsed by Social Security Administration (SSA) or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-09-28.