Medicare & OPM letter slashing annuity in half
Hi, recent Fed retiree here. I applied for Medicare A&B on the last day before my initial enrollment period ended (or would have to pay the penalty for not signing up). A month later I received a phone call from SSA telling me to go to the local office to show my birth cert. I did that and also brought completed form SSA-44 (for IRMAA due to work stoppage). What was weird was the SSA clerk acted like he'd never seen the form before. Scary but I told myself not to be so cynical. Then today, I get a letter in the mail from OPM & after withholding the Medicare amount (using 2 years ago tax return) & "collecting the past due premiums" for Medicare, my annuity is half of what it was before I started this nightmare. I found that I have the right to appeal this decision by using "Request for Reconsideration" form SSA-561-U2.
My questions are: Should I also fill in another SSA-44? Is it possible to dump Medicare Part B? I'm in ok health right now but that can change in the blink of an eye. I currently have BCBS Standard option so I guess I'm just weighing my options. The SSA office is in a bad area of another city so I'd like to avoid another trip there if possible. Any advice, links, etc. would be appreciated. I could kick my own butt for not being up to speed on this before signing up!