The standard Medicare Part B premium will jump to $202.90 per month in 2026, an increase of $17.90 from the $185.00 that enrollees paid in 2025. For the roughly 68 million Americans covered under Part B, that 9.7 percent hike is the steepest single-year dollar increase since 2022, and it arrives at a time when broader inflation has been cooling but medical costs have not.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services locked in the new rate in its official 2026 premium fact sheet, pointing to projected growth in the price and volume of physician visits, outpatient procedures, and other Part B-covered services. The annual Part B deductible will also rise, climbing to $264 from $257.
To put the premium in perspective: a retiree collecting the average Social Security benefit of roughly $1,976 a month will now hand over about 10.3 percent of that check to Part B alone, before paying for prescriptions, dental care, or any other out-of-pocket medical expenses.
What is driving the 9.7 percent increase
CMS recalculates Part B premiums each year based on projected program spending. When the agency expects to pay more for covered services, the premium rises to keep pace. For 2026, CMS cited broad increases in healthcare utilization and per-service costs, with outpatient care and physician services leading the way.
A separate but related rule also plays a role. CMS finalized its Calendar Year 2026 Physician Fee Schedule, which governs how much Medicare reimburses doctors and clinicians. Among the notable changes: a new payment structure for skin substitute products used in wound care, a category where spending had been growing rapidly. CMS said that curbing those costs helped offset what would have been an even larger premium increase. The full rule text is available through the official regulation docket for CMS-1832-F.
Without those administrative savings, the agency indicated, the 2026 premium could have climbed higher still.
Higher earners face steeper surcharges
The $202.90 figure is the base rate. Beneficiaries with higher incomes pay an additional surcharge called the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA. The Social Security Administration, which deducts Part B premiums from benefit checks, applies IRMAA using tax return data from two years prior (in this case, 2024 returns).
Under the 2026 IRMAA brackets published by CMS:
- Individuals with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) at or below $106,000, or $212,000 for joint filers, pay the standard $202.90.
- Above that threshold, surcharges apply across four additional tiers. At the top, enrollees with MAGI above $500,000 individually or $750,000 filing jointly pay $628.90 per month.
Beneficiaries who have experienced a qualifying life-changing event, such as retirement, divorce, or a significant income drop, can file Form SSA-44 to request that SSA base the surcharge on more recent income instead of the two-year-old tax return.
How the increase shrinks Social Security checks
Most Medicare beneficiaries have their Part B premiums withheld directly from Social Security payments, so the higher rate will show up as a smaller deposit. A federal “hold-harmless” provision prevents Part B premium hikes from actually reducing a person’s net Social Security payment below what they received the previous year. That protection matters most when the premium increase outpaces the annual cost-of-living adjustment.
The Social Security Administration set the 2026 COLA at 2.8 percent, which translates to roughly $50 more per month for the average retired-worker benefit. Most beneficiaries will absorb the $17.90 premium increase without triggering the hold-harmless cap, but the hike will consume more than a third of that COLA gain.
For the roughly 13 million people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, state Medicaid programs typically cover the Part B premium. The higher rate means additional pressure on state budgets, though CMS has not released state-by-state cost projections for 2026.
One detail that often catches people off guard: enrollees in Medicare Advantage plans also pay the Part B premium. Choosing an MA plan does not exempt anyone from this cost; it is owed on top of whatever the Advantage plan itself charges.
Where gaps remain and what beneficiaries can do now
Several pieces of the picture are still incomplete as of May 2026. CMS has not published a breakdown of how many enrollees fall into each IRMAA tier, making it hard to gauge how broadly the surcharges reach. The agency also has not released data on whether lower reimbursement rates for skin substitute products are affecting patient access to wound care, a concern that advocacy groups have raised publicly.
Beneficiaries who want to verify their own premium or check whether they qualify for assistance programs such as the Medicare Savings Programs or Extra Help can visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Those who believe their IRMAA surcharge is based on outdated income should contact Social Security directly to request a reconsideration.
The $202.90 monthly premium is locked in for the full calendar year. Any legislative changes to Medicare Part B financing would require an act of Congress, and no such measure is currently advancing. For tens of millions of retirees, the number on their next benefit statement is a concrete reminder that healthcare costs continue to outpace the raises Washington sends their way.
