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The Wise Senior

Medicare Part B Premium and Deductible

The standard Medicare Part B premium and annual deductible for 2026, taken straight from the CMS notice that set them, with every year back to 2016 so you can see how fast this line item has actually risen. Higher earners pay more through IRMAA; this page shows the base figure everyone starts from.

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  • Standard Part B premium, 2026

    $202.90 a month

    What most people pay. For anyone drawing Social Security it is deducted from the monthly payment before it reaches the bank; everyone else is billed directly, usually quarterly.
  • Part B deductible, 2026

    $283 a year

    A yearly amount, not a per-visit one. Once it is met, Part B starts sharing costs for the rest of the calendar year, and the clock restarts on January 1.

This is the base figure, not everybody's figure

Higher-income households pay this premium plus an income-related surcharge, set by the tax return they filed two years earlier. The IRMAA calculator shows which tier an income lands in. Households on a Medicare Savings Program may have the premium paid for them entirely.

Every year since 2016

The premium does not rise smoothly, and it has fallen at least once. Both figures below come from the CMS notice for that year; the change column is simple subtraction.

  • 2026

    $202.90 a month

    Deductible
    $283
    Change on the year before
    +$17.90 (+9.7%)
  • 2025

    $185.00 a month

    Deductible
    $257
    Change on the year before
    +$10.30 (+5.9%)
  • 2024

    $174.70 a month

    Deductible
    $240
    Change on the year before
    +$9.80 (+5.9%)
  • 2023

    $164.90 a month

    Deductible
    $226
    Change on the year before
    −$5.20 (−3.1%)
  • 2022

    $170.10 a month

    Deductible
    $233
    Change on the year before
    +$21.60 (+14.5%)
  • 2021

    $148.50 a month

    Deductible
    $203
    Change on the year before
    +$3.90 (+2.7%)
  • 2020

    $144.60 a month

    Deductible
    $198
    Change on the year before
    +$9.10 (+6.7%)
  • 2019

    $135.50 a month

    Deductible
    $185
    Change on the year before
    +$1.50 (+1.1%)
  • 2018

    $134.00 a month

    Deductible
    $183
    Change on the year before
    +$0.00 (+0.0%)
  • 2017

    $134.00 a month

    Deductible
    $183
    Change on the year before
    +$12.20 (+10.0%)
  • 2016

    $121.80 a month

    Deductible
    $166
    Change on the year before

Why the premium and the raise rarely match

The Part B premium and the Social Security cost-of-living increase are set by different bodies, on different timetables, using different measures. A year where one moves much more than the other is ordinary rather than a mistake, and the history above is the honest way to see which years were unusual.

To add this premium to everything else a year of Medicare costs — deductibles, a drug plan, a supplement, any surcharge — use the total cost estimator.

Where to take a plan question

We take no money from any insurer and name none, so we are not the place to settle what you buy. These three are, and all of them are free.

Estimate only — not financial, tax, legal, or insurance advice. Only CMS can determine your actual amounts.

Official source: CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A & B premiums and deductibles

🎓 Understand this tool

What it is

The standard monthly Part B premium and the annual Part B deductible, as published by CMS for the current year, with the same two figures for every year back to 2016 so the trend is visible rather than asserted.

How it works

CMS sets both figures each autumn in an annual premium notice and a matching statutory notice in the Federal Register. We transcribe them from that document, record the date we checked, and link it beside the number. The history rows come from the same series of notices, one per year, so the year-over-year changes shown are arithmetic on published figures rather than an estimate of inflation.

Getting the most from it

  1. Read the standard premium first. It is what most people pay, and every other Part B figure on the site is built from it.
  2. Check the verified stamp under the figures. It carries the date we last read the CMS notice and links straight to it, so you can confirm the number yourself in one click.
  3. Look at the year-by-year history to see whether a given year's increase was unusual. A single jump means little on its own; the shape of ten years means a good deal more.
  4. If your income two years ago was above the first threshold, add the IRMAA surcharge from the IRMAA calculator — the premium here is the base that surcharge sits on top of.

Reading your result

The premium is a monthly amount, usually deducted from a Social Security payment before it reaches your bank. The deductible is a yearly amount that resets each January and is separate from the Part A hospital deductible, which works per benefit period instead. Neither figure includes any IRMAA surcharge.

What it can't tell you

It does not show what you personally pay. A higher-income household pays the standard premium plus a surcharge; a household on a Medicare Savings Program may have the premium paid for them entirely; and a small number of people are held to a lower amount by the hold-harmless provision. It also cannot tell you next year's figure before CMS announces it.

Frequently asked questions

The figure on this page is the one CMS published in its annual premium notice, and it is shown with the date we last checked it against that document. Most people pay exactly the standard amount; anyone whose income two years ago was above the first IRMAA threshold pays the standard amount plus a surcharge on top.

Part of: What Medicare Actually Costs in a Year

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