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Pam Fuchs, EBS in Sauk County, helped two clients successfully appeal their Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAAs). The clients had sold businesses when they retired, which resulted in significant capital gains income in 2021. Pam helped the clients explain that they had stopped working and that their current income was much lower than reflected by their 2021 tax returns. SSA agreed and removed the IRMAAs!
2/28/2023
Story #53
Leilani Amundson, EBS in Dane County, recently helped a client get her Medicare Part B retroactively reinstated. The client turned 65 and signed up for Medicare. She had thought that her financial planner set up the automatic withdrawal for her premium payments, however they did not. She received a notice dated April 2022 that her Medicare would be ending, and she wouldn't be able to reenroll until the general enrollment period (GEP). However, she didn't see this notice until several months later due to illness. She immediately went to the local SSA office and paid the balance of over $4,000 (including IRMAA), but there was still an issue. Leilani called the SHIP hotline who noted that her payment did not reflect the additional 40 cents on the bill and confirmed her check didn't correctly spell out the cents even though it was written in the numeric box. This was the only issue anyone could pinpoint. Leilani was able to reach an SSA representative who agreed to an appeal for equitable relief, took her telephonic signature, and got a screenshot of her payment of .40 The SSA worker then submitted his approval and recommendation for expedited reinstatement for Medicare to restart as of June of 2022.
9/30/2022
Story #34
Mary Velcich, EBS in Green County, recently helped a client straighten out an issue with the IRMAAs he and his wife were paying for Medicare Part B and Part D. The client was confused about the Medicare premium bills he was receiving, because the amount billed didn't match what he thought he would be paying for his Part B premium and IRMAAs. After a phone call with SSA, Mary learned that the client was being charged an IRMAA from the correct income category for Part D, and an IRMAA from a higher income category for Part B. After talking with the client some more, Mary learned that he had recently retired. Mary helped the client fill out an SSA-44 to reduce the couple's IRMAAs going forward because of his retirement. She also sent a letter to SSA asking them to correct the IRMAA amounts he had been paying. A little over two weeks later, the client let Mary know that the IRMAA issues had been fixed and that this will save the couple approximately $8000.
Monetary Impact = $8,000
7/28/2022
Story #21