Help, Social Security Reduced My Monthly Payment.
Listen to this episode
Dear Rusty: My last Social Security payment decreased by about $400, so I went to my online SS account and found a November 2025 letter explaining that my 2024 tax return showed a greatly enlarged AGI (Adjusted Gross Income). Thus, SSA decided to withdraw monies, as of Jan 2026, from my bank account because I’d owed far more monies to them! The letter itemized my greatly diminished 2026 SSA monthly payment, explaining should my next tax return show a regular AGI, then SSA would return my SS income to regular amounts (and return every prior month’s deficits?). Said letter also mentioned an optional recourse, that of compiling an “Appeal” to regain my ongoing decreased income! The extra amounts now withdrawn for Medicare Parts A and D alone are outrageously high. I’m a retired senior citizen on a fixed income.
According to SSA, my having sold a piece of land in 2024 allows SSA to decrease my SS income! Has this become a common practice against USA (senior) citizens? Thank you in advance for your input! Signed: Feeling Wronged
Rusty’s answer in brief
The Social Security benefit itself was not cut. What changed is the Medicare premium deducted from it: a one-time gain, such as a land sale, pushed income above the IRMAA thresholds, so Medicare Part B and Part D premiums went up and the net deposit went down. IRMAA uses income from two years earlier, so 2024 income set the 2026 premiums.
Premiums return to the standard amount once income drops back below the threshold. You can appeal with a Request for Reconsideration (form SSA-561), but appeals usually succeed only when a “life-changing event,” such as retirement or the loss of a spouse, has lowered your income.
This recording presents the viewpoints of the AMAC Foundation’s Social Security Advisory Staff, trained and accredited under the National Social Security Advisors program of the National Social Security Association, LLC (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation are not affiliated with or endorsed by the United States Government, the Social Security Administration, or any other state government. To request additional information, contact our Advisory Staff at 888-750-2622, or email us at SSAdvisor@AmacFoundation.org.