Part B Medicare Payment

That is a great question...and I do not know the answer...congrats on having the options for both of ya tho...

In addition to quarterly direct billing option, you can also choose to have the monthly premium debited from a bank account. If you choose the auto debit option, it is a monthly debit rather than the quarterly direct billing. You can choose the option you prefer when you sign up. No matter which option you choose, once your wife goes on Social Sevurity, they will automatically move her to a debit from the social security check. No choice at that point!

Just a heads up, even if you choose the auto debit option from your bank account, you will still get a very confusing monthly statement that looks just like a bill and says it is a bill, but further down the page in very small print says it is not really a bill. Go figure- your tax dollars at work every month generating and sending out countless non-bills!

FYI the premium for MC is determined by the prior year's income. We were surprised that it was double the normal when my wife went on it due to a good prior year.

Medicare actually uses the most recent income tax return supplied to them by the IRS in determining the amount of any Part B and D premium adjustments. This more often than not reflects your income from 2 years prior because of the income tax reporting cycle. For example in determining 2018 premiums, the most recent return on file for anyone other than very late filers would be the return due by april 2017 which covered the 2016 tax year. For some late in the calendar year new entrants to Medicare, it is possible the return supplied to social security could truly reflect the previous year’s income, but generally speaking, they are two years behind in terms of the year the money was earned when they do the calculation.