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PabloL856307
Contributor ⭐⭐
May 13, 2025

Social Security Letter Stating We Owe Them $

  • May 13, 2025
  • 14 replies
  • 8354 views

My wife is a retired teacher since 2014. The school system does not pay into Social Security. She retired 10 years ago and has been paying her Medicare premium through bank withdrawals. Now, 10 years later, the Social Security sent us a letter stating that we owe them about $20k. They did not provide an itemized statement showing how they calculated the $20k. I called Social Security and they said to call Medicare to provide an itemized statement and when I call Medicare they state that Social Security is government agency that handles the Medicare payments by deducting from her social security payments. No one has the information I request. The situation is that since she does not get Social Security, she was paying with bank withdrawals. Bottom line, we cant find anyone that can show us how they calculated that we owe them money. After calling several times all l get is finger pointing between agencies but no resolution. I even filed an appeal about 6 weeks ago and did not receive an answer. Its like it went into a black hole. Any ideas? Thanks !

    14 replies

    GailL1
    GailL1
    Community Champion ⭐⭐⭐
    May 13, 2025

    It does get confusing as to which of these agencies has oversite and actually in your wife’s case it is gonna be a bit of both.  Social Security deducts these premiums from people who are getting a benefit check but since your wife does not get one of these then she should be getting a bill every month or quarter on how much she owes.  

     

    I am gonna assume that you are talking about Medicare Part B premiums - Now let’s see if we can figure out why they are billing you such a high amount.

    I assume that your wife is verifying that the amount does come out of her bank account every month.  I assume she knows how much the regular Part B premium is every year.  Her method of paying these amounts from her bank is fine per this Medicare instruction.  The 1st question is she paying the right amount.

    Medicare.gov How to Pay Part A and Part B premiums 

     

    I can give you the amounts that it should be every year since it changes so if you need that let me know if you need that.  However 1st let’s look at something that could possibly be the source of this problem and you will have to verify if this might be the problem - especially since this is such a large amount.

     

    Most people with Medicare pay about the same thing for Part B premiums BUT higher income Medicare beneficiaries pay more on top of this regular annual premium.  The rates in the last ten years have increased as well as the amounts so instead of getting into all of this without verification that it might be where the problem is coming from I will just give you the figures for this year (2025) to see if she (single) or as a couple (married filing joint) would be involved in this.  

     

    So get those filed income taxes out.  Cause that is what it is based upon -   BTW, Medicare bases these premiums on your income from 2-years back because that would be the last one to which they have access thru the IRS.

    Also it is based on all income - single or MFJ depending how you two file your tax returns.  It also includes any capital gains you may have had from the sale of a home - any retirement account distributions or even if you did a ROTH conversion. Whatever is your taxable income is the source of these Part B premium adjustments.

     

    These Part B premium adjustments are on top of the regular Part B premiums that everybody pays - but the 2025 chart has them added together.  These adjustments are called the Income Related Monthly Adjusted Amount or (IRMAA).  These are the rates for this year - 2025 and they would be assessing it on your income tax return of 2023.  

    Medicare.gov 2025 Medicare Cost Fact Sheet 

     ➡️ Look at the chart on page 2 - ⬅️

     

    Do you think this is part of the problem?  

     

    BTW, this could be one year or two or so years out of the 10 she has been retired and filed for these Medicare benefits.   It wouldn’t have to be every year but could be -  Remember the amount of these IRMAA adjustments are based on your tax return from (2) years back.  So 2023 tax return was used to assess the 2025 IRMAA premiums.

     

    If this is not the problem, I have some other ideas but it will probably be best if you make an appointment with your closes Social Security local office and take all your info and the letter to see if if they can help you.

     

    There is contact info below the chart on page 2 of the 2025 Medicare Cost Fact sheet link above.

     

    I will be most happy to help you narrow it down but more details will have to be provided - just let me know,

    Good Luck

    Came back to edit and add - if you draw Social Security with the recent passage of the Social Security Fairness Act your wife may be able to draw Spousal benefits off your record - which would be 50% of your PIA.  

    IT‘S ALWAYS SOMETHING . . . . .. . . . Roseanne Roseannadanna
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    PabloL856307Author
    Contributor ⭐⭐
    May 14, 2025

    Wow, this is a great answer. I appreciate your time to help with this.

     

    It is complicated. We file jointly. Since she retired in 2014, with no SS benefits due to TRS, she was making her own payments by bank withdrawal until I retired in 2020. She is 6 years older than me. 6 months after I retired, and started getting SS benefits (She got a small fraction of my benefits), my ex-boss calls me and offers me a contract job. My IRMA went up and so did hers, significantly. Also, during COVID, there was a period of time where we were not getting her payment invoices from Medicare and no payments were done. We could not send payments blindly. Fast forward to today, I have been back to work for about 3 times (9 mos. each time) and my income has thrown IRMA on a loop for me and her, paying almost double. I think this is all due to IRMA. It appears it took them a while to catch up as you said and that is why they sent the letter saying she owed them money. We know we have made payments, maybe not enough, but I would like to see the payment statements. I have called them 4 times and all I get is contradictory statements and finger pointing with no one offering to send me the basis for their claim. Now it gets more complicated with the Fairness Act because now she qualifies for 50% spousal benefit retroactive to Jan 2024. When I called today to follow up on that they said they are applying the retroactive to the amount that is owed first and then after all is paid, then she will start receiving the 50%. All of this happening in the background with no notice or information provided in their Online site or by letter. When we applied for her 50% due to the Fairness Act, first they sent a letter denying the benefits. Today they said that the benefits were approved as stated above.

     

    I have never seen anything like this.

     

    Sorry this is a bit of a ramble but this is just complicated. Any idea as to what I should do to get the basis of the claim showing how much we owed vs. how much we paid and the deficit per month? There has to be a file somewhere documenting how this was all determined, but the people that answer the phone when I call have no clue.

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      PabloL856307Author
      Contributor ⭐⭐
      May 17, 2025

      I just want to see the basis for their determination and attempt to verify its accuracy.

      Based on my interactions with SS so far I am not convinced of their efficiency and correctness. For example, the conflicting responses and lack of backup information. Also very frustrating that you cannot contact whoever evaluated the situation and sent the letter. Also, they stated in the letter where they granted the spousal benefit that the retroactive started in December 2024. According to the Fairness Act, the retroactive should go back to January 2024. We never cancelled the Part B.

       

      One question, putting the Fairness Act aside, when my wife retired due to TRS, she did not have any SS benefits and paid her Medicare premium with a check. Now since we file jointly, and me taking Medicare, if I went back to work kicking IRMAA into high gear, would her Medicare premium also go up even if she does not receive SS benefits?

        GailL1
        GailL1
        Community Champion ⭐⭐⭐
        May 18, 2025

        @PabloL856307 

        I think I forgot to ask if you and your wife have set up your Medicare account?  I THINK it shows premium history if billed rather than auto deducted from Social Security benefit.  I might be worthwhile to set it up if you and your wife don’t have on.

        Medicare.gov - Create an Account 

        Anyplace that has some of your info might help in the analysis when you the folks at the SSA.

        IT‘S ALWAYS SOMETHING . . . . .. . . . Roseanne Roseannadanna
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