Medicare Costs · Roaring Fork Valley · 2026

Medicare IRMAA in 2026: what higher-income retirees in the Roaring Fork Valley will pay

If your income is above $109,000 (single) or $218,000 (joint), Medicare adds a surcharge — IRMAA — to your Part B and Part D premiums. Here are the official 2026 brackets, why home sales and retirement timing matter in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, and Aspen, and the appeal most people never file — with every figure linked to its federal source.

Bemis Insurance Data Desk

Reviewed by Trinity Bemis, Licensed Insurance Broker & Medicare Specialist (NPN 21424070) · Published 2026-07-08

Here is the short answer for anyone in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, El Jebel, or Aspen: in 2026, if your modified adjusted gross income on your 2024 tax return was over $109,000 as a single filer — or $218,000 filing jointly — you pay more than the standard $202.90 Part B premium, and an extra amount on top of your Part D drug plan premium. The surcharge is called IRMAA, the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. It is set in federal tables, it is not optional, and it is not billed by your insurance plan — Medicare collects it, usually straight out of your Social Security check. Every number in this article is for plan year 2026 and linked to its federal source.

What is IRMAA — and who actually pays it?

Since 2007 for Part B and 2011 for Part D, federal law has required higher-income beneficiaries to pay a larger share of their Medicare costs. Each fall, CMS publishes the income thresholds and surcharge amounts for the coming year; Social Security then matches those tables against the most recent tax return the IRS has for you and mails a determination letter to anyone who owes a surcharge (CMS).

Nationally, IRMAA touches a minority of beneficiaries — CMS estimates roughly 8% of people with Medicare Part B pay an income-related adjustment (CMS 2026 fact sheet). But that average hides a lot of local variation, and — as we'll see below — parts of the Roaring Fork Valley sit well above the national norm on income and home values, which makes IRMAA a routine planning topic here rather than a rare one.

Three ground rules before the numbers:

• IRMAA is based on MAGI — your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest. That includes taxable capital gains, Roth conversion amounts, and required minimum distributions, not just wages.
• It applies per person. A married couple where both spouses are on Medicare pays the surcharge twice if their joint income crosses a threshold.
• Crossing a line by $1 costs the full bracket amount. The tables are cliffs, not gradual slopes — which is why year-end income timing gets so much attention from tax professionals.

What are the official 2026 IRMAA brackets?

These are the federal tables CMS published on November 14, 2025, for plan year 2026. Find your filing status and 2024 MAGI; the row shows your total monthly Part B premium and the extra amount added to whatever your Part D drug plan charges (CMS):

Source: CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (includes 2026 IRMAA tables). A separate, less favorable table applies if you're married, lived with your spouse during the year, and file separately — see the CMS fact sheet.

The same brackets drive both surcharges, and the Part D add-on applies on top of your drug plan's own premium — even if that plan premium is $0 (Medicare.gov). Here's the spread visualized:

2026 monthly Part B premium by IRMAA bracket. Source: CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (includes 2026 IRMAA tables).

What that means in practice: a couple, both on Medicare, whose 2024 joint MAGI was $230,000 lands in the first surcharge bracket. Each spouse pays $81.20 more for Part B and $14.50 more for Part D every month — $95.70 each, or about $2,296.80 for the household over the year (our arithmetic from the CMS bracket amounts above). The same couple at $217,000 would have paid no surcharge at all.

Sources: CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (includes 2026 IRMAA tables).

Why does Medicare look at my 2024 income for a 2026 premium?

Social Security uses the most recent federal tax return the IRS has provided — generally the return filed in 2025 for tax year 2024 (SSA). That two-year lookback creates the classic new-retiree trap: you retire this year, your income drops sharply, but your Medicare premium still reflects your final working years.

Picture someone in Carbondale who retired in June 2026 after a strong final year of self-employment income in 2024. Their paychecks stopped, but their 2026 Part B bill is priced off that busy 2024 return. Without action, the surcharge keeps landing every month — yet this exact situation is what the appeal process in the next-to-last section exists for, because stopping work is a qualifying life-changing event (SSA).

Why does IRMAA matter so much in the Roaring Fork Valley?

Because valley incomes and home values sit unusually close to — and often above — the IRMAA thresholds. At the top of the valley, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data for Pitkin County shows a median household income of $100,318, per-capita income of $105,096, and a median home value of $1,131,200 (2023 ACS estimates, data.census.gov). Down-valley in Garfield County, median household income is $82,772 (2022 ACS) — closer to typical, which is exactly the point: this is a valley where ordinary retirement events can cross federal income lines that most of the country never approaches.

Two local patterns do most of the damage:

• The home-sale spike. MAGI includes taxable capital gains. Sell a long-held Basalt or Aspen home, and the gain above the federal home-sale exclusion can vault a couple past $218,000 in a single tax year — producing an IRMAA surcharge two years later, usually for just that one year. It isn't a penalty for being wealthy year after year; it's a timing artifact you can plan around.
• The strong-final-year effect. Consulting income, a business sale, deferred compensation, or a large Roth conversion in your last working year sets the MAGI that prices your first year or two of Medicare.

None of this is a reason to avoid enrolling on time — late-enrollment penalties are lifetime, while IRMAA re-prices every year as older returns roll off. It is a reason to know the brackets before you sign paperwork on a sale or conversion, and to loop in a tax professional on the timing. We're insurance advisors, not tax preparers, and MAGI questions deserve both.

How do I appeal — and when does it actually work?

Social Security will recalculate your IRMAA using your newer, lower income if a life-changing event reduced it. The qualifying events are specific (SSA):

1. Work stoppage or reduction — retirement counts. This is the most common successful appeal for new Medicare enrollees.
2. Marriage, divorce, or the death of a spouse.
3. Loss of income-producing property (beyond your control), loss or reduction of a pension, or an employer settlement payment.

The form is SSA-44; you can submit it online through your Social Security account, by fax, or by mail, or start by calling 1-800-772-1213 (SSA). Two honest caveats: a one-time capital gain — like that home sale — is not a qualifying life-changing event on its own, so a sale-year spike generally just has to age off after a year. And if your tax return itself was amended or wrong, that's a different correction path; SSA handles amended returns by phone.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. Bemis Insurance is a licensed independent insurance agency. Not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. This article is education, not advice — IRMAA depends on your tax return, so confirm your situation with Social Security (1-800-772-1213), a tax professional, or Medicare.gov. Figures above are published federal amounts for plan year 2026 and U.S. Census Bureau ACS estimates; each is linked to its source.

Sources

• CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (includes 2026 IRMAA tables)
• SSA — Benefits Planner: Medicare Premiums
• SSA — Request to lower an IRMAA
• SSA-44: Medicare IRMAA — Life-Changing Event (PDF)
• Medicare.gov — How much does Medicare drug coverage cost?
• U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey, Pitkin County, CO