Medicare Part B Premiums to Jump 9.7% in 2026

The increase means that the standard Part B premium will increase to $202.90 per month next year, from $185 per month this year.

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that runs Medicare, did not say why Part B premiums are increasing so much, but health insurers and the firms that help employers administer their self-insured health plans have reported seeing health care costs rising about 10% or more this year.

The Part B deductible will increase 10%, to $283.

The implication: Retirement advisors will face even more questions than before about what's happening to post-retirement health care spending and what clients can do to hold costs down.

The basics: Medicare is a program that provides health care for about 69 million people who are 65 and older, qualify for Social Security disability insurance or face kidney disease severe enough that they are on dialysis or have recently had a kidney transplant.

Most Medicare enrollees get Medicare Part A inpatient hospitalization coverage "for free," because they and employers paid for it with payroll taxes.

Most enrollees pay monthly premiums for Medicare Part B coverage, which covers the cost of doctors' bills, short visits to hospital clinics and similar types of care.

Even enrollees who buy Medicare Advantage plans, or plans that appear to provide a replace for "original Medicare" coverage, usually have to pay Part B premiums, although some Medicare Advantage plans help their enrollees pay part or all of those premiums.

Medicare enrollees who have annual income over a cutoff — $109,000 in 2026 for an individual and $218,000 for a couple that files a joint return — must pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount, or IRMAA.

Part B IRMAAs: For many high-income clients, the full cost of Part B coverage will include the IRMAAs.

For clients who earn just enough to pay IRMAAs, the full monthly premium amount will be $284.10.

For couples in the highest income bracket — more than $500,000 for an individual and $750,000 for a married joint filer — the actual monthly premium will increase to $689.90, from $628.90.

Monthly costs could be higher if clients missed Medicare Part B enrollment deadlines and end up owing penalties.

The "hold harmless" provision: Medicare Part B has a "hold harmless" provision that's meant to keep Medicare premium increases from wiping out the extra cash retirees get from the cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits.

The provision could help any clients who will see their Social Security checks rise by less than $17.90 per month next year.

But, even though the percentage increase in Social Security benefits will be much smaller in 2026 than the increase in Medicare Part B premiums, it will increase the average monthly Social Security payment by about $56.

That means most clients who have Medicare coverage will end up having to pay $17.90 per month more for what they might have thought was "free Medicare coverage."

Medicare Part A: Although most clients will get "free" Medicare Part A, some who have immigrated to the United States from other countries may need to buy into the program, and some clients may need to think about Part A premiums when helping parents or other older relatives move to the United States.

The full premium for Medicare Part A hospitalization coverage will rise 2.6% in 2025, to $513 per month.

The Part A premium will increase 9.1%, to $565.

The Part A deductible will rise 3.6%, to $1,736.

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