Appealing Medicare part B income-related premium

It is almost impossible to appeal even if your income drops drastically. Whether you deal with the administration or the local office, neither of them is very familar with the situation. In fact most of them never heard of form ssa-44 and do not know much about the whole procedure and are not even concerned because according to them it only involves about 5% of the population. One of the most disgusting issues is the fact that most everyone receiving social security was sent the 2009 book medicare & You which clearly states on page 21 that your monthly premium will be higher if you meet the following conditions:
. You are single (file an individual tax return), and your yearly modified adjusted gross income is more than $82,000 (in 2008)
.You are married (file a joint tax return), and your yearly modified adjusted gross income is more than $164,000 (in 2008). However the letters received by the people that were assessed the income related adjustment showed 85,000 & 170,000 and most importantly were based on their 2007 tax return. Supposedly you can ask to have another year considered but it has to be what in their opinion is a life threatening event.