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▶Medicare & IRMAA Command Center
The cheapest premium is rarely the cheapest year.
The cheapest premium is rarely the cheapest year. Every fall you are shown one number — the monthly premium — and asked to pick a year of your health care from it. The premium is a price. The plan is a cost, and the cost includes the deductible, the coinsurance, the drugs, and the surcharge added to your Part B bill because of a tax return you filed two years ago. This 14-tab file totals both paths to a year, so the comparison is finally between numbers that mean the same thing.
- Coverage Path Comparison — Original + Medigap vs Advantage, totaled for a healthy year AND a bad one
- IRMAA Calculator — the 2026 tiers, verified to CMS, with the two-year MAGI lookback
- Part D Drug Modeler — your actual prescriptions priced through the $2,100 cap
- Medigap Plan Grid — what each letter really covers, and which plans are closed
- Enrollment Timeline — every window and every permanent late penalty, dated
Overview
The cheapest premium is rarely the cheapest year.
Every fall you are shown one number — the monthly premium — and asked to pick a year of your health care from it. The premium is a price. The plan is a cost, and the cost includes the deductible, the coinsurance, the drugs, and the surcharge added to your Part B bill because of a tax return you filed two years ago. This 14-tab file totals both paths to a year, so the comparison is finally between numbers that mean the same thing.
Annual Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7. Go in with the total, not the premium.
What's Included
14 connected tabs:
- Medicare-IRMAA-Command-Center.xlsx — the 14-tab engine (Excel + Google Sheets)
- Bonus Themes folder — the same workbook in Light, Dark and Editorial
- Quick-Start-Guide.pdf + ACCESS-YOUR-TEMPLATE.pdf — one-click Google Sheets access + the video tutorial link
- README + LICENSE — delivered as one ZIP, instant download
Key Benefits
Why this one
Original + Plan G costs the sample couple $17,254 no matter what happens; Advantage runs $10,492 healthy but $18,452 in a bad year. The plan finder shows neither figure.
$2,296.80 a year of surcharge triggered by being $1,299 over a tier floor — including the tax-exempt municipal interest that counts toward MAGI.
2026 IRMAA is computed from your 2024 return. The file prices Roth conversions and home sales before they become a surcharge.
Every prescription modeled month by month through the $2,100 Part D out-of-pocket cap.
Part B late enrollment is 10% per full 12 months — forever. The timeline makes sure that never happens to you.
2,471 formulas · recalculated clean · 807/807 independent math checks. Every image is the real file.
Who It's For
Built for
- Anyone turning 65 in the next two years
- Anyone on Medicare who has never actually compared their two paths in dollars
- Households planning a Roth conversion, a house sale or a final working year
- Adult children helping a parent pick during Annual Enrollment
How It Works
Up and running in minutes
The ACCESS-YOUR-TEMPLATE.pdf in your download opens a copy in Google Sheets with one click
Birth dates and the two-year-back MAGI drive the timeline and the IRMAA tiers
The modeler prices your actual prescriptions; the check tab holds your providers
One healthy-year total, one bad-year total, for each path — same units, honest spread
Every enrollment window and penalty, counted from your own dates
Why It's Different
Not another template
Plan finders compare premiums; this compares YEARS. It knows IRMAA runs on income from two years ago, that municipal bond interest counts, that Plans C and F are closed to new enrollees, and that no 2027 figures exist yet — so it refuses to invent them.
Delivery & Compatibility
Instant, and works with what you use
As soon as your order is complete you get instant access to download your files. Prefer Google Sheets for real-time updates and dropdowns? It's fully optimized. More comfortable in Excel? It works just as well.
Built and tested in the latest Excel (Office 365). On Mac we recommend the Google Sheets version — the template is not compatible with Apple Numbers. Available in English. The template ships with sample data so every screen works on open; clear it whenever you're ready. The images and video show that sample data to demonstrate how it looks in use.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes — one click: the ACCESS-YOUR-TEMPLATE.pdf in your download opens a copy straight into Google Sheets. The .xlsx works in Excel too.
Are the 2026 numbers real?
Yes — Part B $202.90, deductible $283, the six IRMAA tiers, the $2,100 Part D cap — verified to the CMS fact sheet and SSA POMS, cited on the Reference tab with as-of dates.
What about 2027?
Nothing 2027 is published as of this build — not premiums, not IRMAA, not the cap. The file says so rather than guessing; the projection labels estimates as estimates.
Does it recommend a plan?
No. It totals both paths honestly and shows the spread — the decision, and any advice, stays with you and your advisors.
Is anything pre-loaded?
Sample data (Harold and Jean's comparison) ships inside so every screen works on open — clear it when you're ready.
Can I get a refund on a digital download?
Because delivery is instant, all sales are final — but message us with any issue and we'll make it right.
This is a planning tool, not insurance, tax, legal or medical advice. Confirm plan details at Medicare.gov and figures with your advisors before enrolling or changing coverage. For personal use only. © 2026 NicheToolkitHub — no resale or redistribution.
