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Econ conditions & hard-landing inflation again in detail; was other stuff, insurance bundling ....
Another matter some may not be aware of. In addition to your Medicare Part D plan through a private carrier, if your income is above a certain threshold there is a Medicare Part D IRMAA. This varies from $12.90 to $81.00 per month and deducted from your monthly social security check. It doesn’t pay anything for drugs etc. like your private Part D plan, simply a surcharge based on income.
Hi @Junkster I'm familiar with IRMAA, in general. I'm curious to your earlier post when you noted 'No inflation on my social security benefits as I was notified would be receiving $293 less per month in 2024.' I will presume you received a letter from SS or Medicare, as this would be the expected method. Was this the case? Thank you and take care, Catch
Just a side note to this discussion on Medicare IRMAA. I see IRMAA started in 2003. I wonder what has kept the government from enacting the same type regulation to Social Security? If they did it with Medicare 20 years ago, a precedent, why hasn't it even been debated for SS? Just surprising to me.
Medicare rules aren't simple or logical. So, I pay late penalty for Part B because of confusion whether retiree coverage allowed late signup (it didn't despite some back-and-forth), but no late fees for Part D as that under retiree coverage was considered "creditable".
Lesson was only coverage from active job can delay Part B signup, not retiree coverage or COBRA.
When applicable, penalties are lifelong for late signups for Parts B & D.
Hi @Junkster I'm familiar with IRMAA, in general. I'm curious to your earlier post when you noted 'No inflation on my social security benefits as I was notified would be receiving $293 less per month in 2024.' I will presume you received a letter from SS or Medicare, as this would be the expected method. Was this the case? Thank you and take care Catch
@catch22, yes received a letter from Social Security Administration this weekend. Sort of wish I hadn’t even brought all this up. The irony is I probably receive among the smallest SS benefits of anyone on this board. Add in all the income adjustments and it’s next to nothing - a whopping $808.20 monthly and will be even smaller in 2025 going forward. Lots of reasons why it is so small but not worth discussing.
But anything is better than MY Social Security that is a fat $0 - my state employer was exempt but has since joined SSA for newer employees. So, I get billed for Medicare Part B, and both IRMAAs, plus a late-penalty that I mentioned in the previous post - I see it MONTHLY. The hold-harmless principle of Medicare/SSA doesn't apply to me either.
My wife does get a small Social Security and gets everything deducted from her payouts. In fact, that is how the fun for me started. As soon as I because eligible for Medicare on the basis of my wife's work, my group employer kicked me out and asked to signup for Medicare.
Another matter some may not be aware of. In addition to your Medicare Part D plan through a private carrier, if your income is above a certain threshold there is a Medicare Part D IRMAA. This varies from $12.90 to $81.00 per month and deducted from your monthly social security check. It doesn’t pay anything for drugs etc. like your private Part D plan, simply a surcharge based on income.
Wow. That is a sneaky way to take another $ 81.00 from you.
I was not expecting much from SSA but was hoping it would at least cover the Medicare premiums but now that u added a surcharge, i have to be prepared for out of pocket.
I can see a claw back based on income coming for SS payments.
I think the smarter ones have most of their wealth in Roth IRAs.
Hi @BaluBalu. This is the information I was looking for earlier regarding Part D, but covers Parts A and B. The page read is short and contains decent examples. Note: About 15 years ago I knew a retired lady who was a good accountant and managed the tax books for her daughter's small hardware store. The mother had always had good health, had started Medicare at age 65, including Part D for meds. A number of years passed and she didn't really have any benefit from Part D, as she didn't take any meds. The daughter was paying the monthly premiums as an expense from the store operations. Together they decided to STOP Part D. A few years later she needed to start taking prescriptions and decided the Part D plan would help with pricing. She was able to obtain a Part D again; but from having stopped and started again, she had a monetary penalty applied monthly that remained until her passing. Medicare and avoiding late enrollment penalties.
Comments
Thank you and take care,
Catch
Lesson was only coverage from active job can delay Part B signup, not retiree coverage or COBRA.
When applicable, penalties are lifelong for late signups for Parts B & D.
My wife does get a small Social Security and gets everything deducted from her payouts. In fact, that is how the fun for me started. As soon as I because eligible for Medicare on the basis of my wife's work, my group employer kicked me out and asked to signup for Medicare.
I was not expecting much from SSA but was hoping it would at least cover the Medicare premiums but now that u added a surcharge, i have to be prepared for out of pocket.
I can see a claw back based on income coming for SS payments.
I think the smarter ones have most of their wealth in Roth IRAs.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/28/opinion/economy-voter-sentiment-inflation.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/opinion/inflation-disinflation-economists.html
https://apple.news/A0kaS2vXER3yTrYXxZm5LWA
or
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2023/12/09/despite-strong-jobs-report-recession-still-locked-in/