Most people don't pay a monthly premium for Medicare Part A — it's free if you or a spouse paid Medicare taxes for at least 40 quarters (10 years) of work. What did go up for everyone in 2026 is the deductible and the coinsurance you pay when you actually use hospital care. * The Part A inpatient hospital deductible rose to $1,736 for 2026, up $60 from the prior year. That's what you pay out of pocket for each benefit period before Medicare starts covering hospital costs — and unlike many insurance deductibles, it can apply more than once a year if you're hospitalized in separate benefit periods. * Stay in the hospital longer, and coinsurance kicks in on top of that deductible: $434 a day for days 61 through 90 of a hospital stay, and $868 a day if you dip into your 60 lifetime reserve days beyond that. For skilled nursing facility care, days 21 through 100 carry a $217-a-day coinsurance charge. * If you don't qualify for premium-free Part A because you have between 30 and 39 quarters of covered work, you can buy in at a reduced monthly premium of $311 in 2026, up $26 from 2025. With fewer than 30 quarters, the full monthly premium is $565, up $47. Nearly all of these increases track CMS's projections for rising hospital care costs system-wide.