Which IRMAA brackets (and percentage surcharges) did the SSA publish for 2026 and how did they change from 2025?

1. What the 2026 brackets look like and where the money thresholds sit

For 2026 the SSA/CMS framework uses five income bands (the same bands apply to both Part B and Part D), with the entry point for surcharge treatment at $109,000 for single filers and $218,000 for married filing jointly — the first threshold rising from $106,000 in 2025 to $109,000 in 2026 as reported by CMS‑tracking outlets ^{[1] [2]}. Industry writeups and technical summaries also note the statutory rule that the fifth/top bracket (the very high income tier) is not indexed until 2028, leaving that cap at $500,000 individual / $750,000 joint for now ^{[3] [2]}.

2. How much the surcharges add to premiums in 2026 (Parts B and D)

The standard Part B base premium for 2026 is reported as $202.90, and when IRMAA applies the Part B surcharges add between roughly $81.20 and $487.00 monthly depending on bracket — producing total Part B monthly payments reported in the $284.10 to $689.90 band for the highest payers ^{[5] [3] [2]}. Part D IRMAA surcharges for 2026 are reported to range approximately $14.50 to $91.00 per month, billed directly for prescription coverage and added on top of plan premiums ^{[2] [3]}.

3. How 2026 changed from 2025: thresholds and percentage shifts

Multiple reporting strands describe two distinct movements: income thresholds edged upward (driven by the CPI‑U indexing rule and mandatory rounding), and surcharge dollar amounts were increased at different rates for B and D. The first IRMAA threshold rose from $106,000 to $109,000 (about +2.8% by one calculation reflecting rounding) while several analysts attribute most of the bracket increases to a smaller CPI‑U rise near +1.02% for the earlier brackets — the discrepancy reflects statutory rounding and reporting methods ^{[1] [6]}. Surcharge percentages reported vary by source: IRMAA‑B surcharges grew by roughly 9–9.7% versus 2025 and IRMAA‑D surcharges grew about 6.0% in 2026 per IRMAA‑focused firms ^{[4] [2]}.

4. Why these changes matter and the mixed narratives in reporting

The practical effect is acute because IRMAA is a cliff formula: crossing a threshold by even a dollar triggers the full higher surcharge for Parts B and D, so modest income swings or one‑time distributions can move beneficiaries into materially higher monthly bills (a planning point emphasized by pension and benefits advisers) ^[6]. Coverage‑trackers stress that thresholds are indexed annually (except the frozen top band), and that CMS/SSA final notices underlie these numbers — yet some outlets emphasize the larger headline dollar increases in Part B premiums while others focus on threshold movement and planning tactics, producing slightly different percent‑change framings in the coverage ^{[7] [6] [4]}.

5. Limits of the reporting and what remains to verify

The sources synthesize CMS/SSA final notices and practitioner calculations but no single public SSA PDF listing every 2026 bracket/surcharge line‑by‑line was among the provided files; therefore the exact per‑bracket dollar surcharges in every band are drawn from consistent secondary reporting (Kiplinger, IRMAA advisory sites, technical tax reviews) rather than a single SSA table in the document set provided here ^{[2] [3] [7]}. Where sources diverge on the precise percent change for thresholds (1.02% CPI‑U versus 2.83% after rounding) those differences are explicitly noted above and reflect the statutory rounding rules and different calculation methods ^{[6] [1]}.