Medicare Part B Premium 2026: The New Monthly Cost and Deductible

By the Between the News desk · researched with AI tools, checked and edited by a human editor

Standard Part B premium: $202.90/moUp $17.90 from 2025's $185.00Annual deductible: $283 (up from $257)Immunosuppressive drug premium: $121.60Source: CMS 2026 Medicare Parts A & B fact sheet

👁Decoded

Medicare Part B costs more in 2026. The standard monthly premium rose to $202.90, up $17.90 from $185.00 in 2025 — a jump of roughly 9.7%.

The annual Part B deductible — what you pay out of pocket before Medicare starts covering its share of outpatient care, doctor visits, and other Part B services — also rose, to $283 for 2026, up $26 from $257 the year before.

CMS attributes the increase mainly to projected price growth in medical care and higher expected utilization, in line with historical trends, rather than any single new program or policy.

If your Social Security check didn't go up by more than the Part B premium increase, you're generally protected by the "hold harmless" provision, which prevents your net Social Security payment from dropping because of a Medicare premium hike — though this mostly matters in low-COLA years, not a 2.8% COLA year like 2026.

Higher earners pay more: if your income on your tax return from two years prior was above certain thresholds, you're subject to an Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA), a surcharge added on top of the standard premium. There's also a separate, smaller premium of $121.60 for enrollees who only have Medicare to cover immunosuppressive drugs after a transplant.

“The standard Part B premium rose almost 10% in one year — from $185.00 to $202.90 a month.”