How Much Does Medicare Cost in 2026? Premiums, Deductibles and Income Surcharges

As of 20 Oct 2026, read on medicare.gov and cms.gov, the standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month (more at higher incomes), the Part B deductible is $283 a year, and most people pay $0 a month for Part A. Medigap and Medicare Advantage premiums vary by policy or plan and are not priced here.

Financeradar data: the 50 high-yield savings accounts with a published APY (of 52 we track) average 3.21% APY, read between Aug 11 and Oct 17, 2026, so about $75,850 in savings at that average would earn one year of Part B premiums, $2,434.80, in interest. Rates can change at any time, and this is our arithmetic before tax, not a plan.

Every amount is printed for 2026 and was read on 20 Oct 2026 on medicare.gov's costs page and in CMS's 2026 Parts A and B fact sheet, with the Part D rows from medicare.gov's Part D costs page. The billing basis changes by row: premiums are monthly, deductibles are yearly or per benefit period, and hospital coinsurance is daily, so the scenarios below convert them to yearly totals.

What does Medicare Part A cost?

Part A is hospital insurance, and CMS says approximately 99% of beneficiaries pay no Part A premium because they have at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment, and medicare.gov puts the rule at generally at least 10 years of work and Medicare taxes, yours or a spouse's. People without premium-free Part A might be able to buy it for $311 or $565 a month in 2026, depending on how long they or a spouse worked, and medicare.gov says a buyer must also sign up for Part B.

The deductible is $1,736 per inpatient hospital benefit period, which medicare.gov says starts the day you are admitted and ends after 60 days in a row without inpatient hospital care, so you can owe it more than once in a calendar year. Once it is paid, days 1 to 60 cost nothing a day, days 61 to 90 cost $434 a day, and days 91 to 150 cost $868 a day while using your 60 lifetime reserve days (60 days over a lifetime, not per stay). Skilled nursing stays cost nothing for days 1 to 20 and $217 a day for days 21 to 100.

The weakness is the missing ceiling. After day 150 of a benefit period you pay all costs, and medicare.gov prints no yearly out-of-pocket limit for Original Medicare unless you add supplemental coverage or join a Medicare Advantage plan.

What does Medicare Part B cost?

The Part B premium is a monthly cost, and it is easy to miss. Medicare.gov says it is usually deducted from your monthly Social Security (or Railroad Retirement Board) benefit, so it shows up as a smaller payment rather than a bill. If you get no benefit, or the benefit is too low, Medicare bills you, and you owe the premium each month even if you get no Part B services.

CMS's fact sheet puts the 2026 standard premium $17.90 above 2025's $185.00 and the deductible $26 above 2025's $257. After the deductible you usually pay 20% of the cost of each covered service, as long as your provider accepts assignment, per medicare.gov.

Part B has two weaknesses with numbers attached. That share has no yearly cap in Original Medicare, and a hospital outpatient service adds a separate copayment to the hospital that medicare.gov says in most cases will not exceed the Part A hospital deductible, $1,736.

How much more do higher earners pay for Part B and Part D?

Income raises both premiums through the income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA). CMS says these amounts affect roughly 8% of people with Part B, and approximately 8% of people with Part D pay the Part D version. The brackets use modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), which SSA defines as adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest income, from your return for two years earlier: medicare.gov says 2024 income sets what you pay in 2026, and SSA says it sometimes has to use tax year 2023.

Amounts are 2026, from CMS's fact sheet of Nov 14, 2025, and match the SSA premiums page and medicare.gov, read 20 Oct 2026. The Part B column is the standard premium plus CMS's extra amount, which runs from $81.20 a month in the first bracket to $487.00 in the top one. The Part D column is added to your plan's premium and, per medicare.gov, is paid to Medicare (or the Railroad Retirement Board), not the plan. Married people who file separately have their own three-row table on medicare.gov and CMS, left out here.

The brackets are cliffs, not slopes. Medicare's income brackets are a separate system from the federal income tax brackets, and the first Part B step adds $81.20 a month ($974.40 over twelve months) at any MAGI inside it, so crossing $109,000 on an individual return costs the same whether you cross it by $1 or by $27,000. SSA says that if income has since fallen because of a life-changing event, such as a marriage, a divorce, a spouse's death or stopping work, you can ask Social Security for a new decision.

What does Part D cost, and what is the 2026 out-of-pocket cap?

Part D premiums vary by plan, so the medicare.gov cost pages print no single plan premium. Medicare.gov prints a 2026 national base beneficiary premium of $38.99, and its 2026 cost fact sheet says Medicare uses that base to estimate the late-enrollment penalty and the income-related amounts. It is a benchmark, not what any plan charges.

The drug benefit has three stages, per medicare.gov. No plan may have a deductible above $615 in 2026, and some have none. After the deductible you pay 25% coinsurance on generic and brand-name drugs until out-of-pocket spending on covered Part D drugs reaches $2,100 in 2026, counting certain payments made on your behalf, such as through Extra Help. Then catastrophic coverage means no out-of-pocket cost for covered Part D drugs for the rest of the calendar year. The same page already prints 2027 limits, $700 for the deductible and $2,400 for the cap, which differ from the 2026 ones.

The weakness is what the cap leaves out. It limits spending on covered drugs, while the monthly premium is owed whether or not you fill a prescription.

What does this page not price?

Medicare Advantage premiums, Medigap premiums and Part D plan premiums are set per plan or policy, and the cost pages we read print no dollar figure for them. Medicare.gov's 2026 cost fact sheet points to its plan-comparison tool for premiums by plan. Medicare.gov says an Advantage plan's premium and other costs vary by plan, you must keep paying the Part B premium to stay in it, and its yearly out-of-pocket limit varies by plan; once you reach it, the plan pays 100% of covered services for the rest of the calendar year. Some Advantage plans help pay all or part of the Part B premium.

Medigap premiums vary by policy, by where you live and by other factors, and you must also keep paying Part B. Medicare.gov's Medigap benefit chart compares ten plan columns (A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M and N) by benefit, with no premiums. It does print some limits: Plan K has a yearly out-of-pocket limit of $8,000 in 2026 and Plan L $4,000, and the high-deductible versions of Plans F and G, offered in some states, make you pay up to $2,950 in 2026 first. A total that includes either product needs a quote from the plan or insurer.

What does a year of Medicare cost? Three scenarios on printed amounts

This is our arithmetic on the printed 2026 amounts. Most rows are floors for the components listed; the Part D row uses the $615 maximum deductible and the $38.99 benchmark, so a real plan can cost less or more. It leaves out Part B coinsurance, drug costs beyond the deductible and any Advantage or Medigap premium, and it recommends no coverage route.

Scenario B2 costs $5,844.00 a year more than the standard premium alone, which is twelve months of the top bracket's extra $487.00. Scenario C shows why the missing cap matters: most doctor services during an inpatient stay fall under Part B at 20% of the cost, so the real bill is higher.

What do late-enrollment penalties add?

Medicare.gov lists three penalties, each added to the monthly premium, and says exceptions exist, such as a Special Enrollment Period, which is a question for the free help below rather than for this page.

• Part A (only if you must buy it): the premium may go up 10%, charged for twice the number of years you could have signed up and did not.
• Part B: an extra 10% for each full 12-month period you could have signed up and did not, usually for as long as you have Part B. Medicare.gov's example is two full years late, a 20% penalty and $243.50 a month in 2026, rounded to the nearest 10 cents.
• Part D: 1% of the $38.99 benchmark for each full month without creditable coverage, added for as long as you have drug coverage. Medicare.gov's example is 14 months, a 14% penalty and $5.50 a month in 2026.

Where can you get help with the costs?

States run the Medicare Savings Programs, and you apply through your state. Medicare.gov lists four, and for 2026 the federal monthly income limits for one person are $1,350 (QMB), $1,616 (SLMB) and $1,816 (QI), each with a $9,950 resource limit. The Medicare Savings Programs page says limits are slightly higher in Alaska and Hawaii, some states count income differently, and people in QMB, SLMB or QI also get Extra Help with prescription drug costs.

For personal questions, medicare.gov's Talk to Someone page lists 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week except some federal holidays, and says State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) offer free health insurance counseling. Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7, per medicare.gov, with changes effective January 1. This page prices 2026 and tells no one which route to choose or when to enroll.

Where does Medicare fit with the rest of your retirement money?

For the working years before Medicare, see the limits for a 401(k), a Roth IRA and the other retirement accounts, plus our investing hub and IRA account rankings. Our HSA vs FSA page lists Medicare enrollment among the rules that block HSA contributions, and the HSA contribution limits page has the yearly caps. Income-related amounts follow your tax return, which our tax hub and filing deadlines cover.

For cash set aside for premiums, see where to put cash in 2026, how much interest a high-yield savings account earns, the best high-yield savings guide, our savings account rankings and the rate tracker.

How we compared

We read the medicare.gov and CMS pages linked above, plus SSA's premiums page, on October 20, 2026. Every dollar total is our arithmetic on those 2026 amounts, and CMS and medicare.gov change them each year. This is general information, not personalized financial advice or enrollment advice. Financeradar may earn a commission from some links; it never affects rankings (how we make money).

FAQ

How much does Medicare cost in 2026?

As of October 20, 2026, the standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month and the Part B deductible is $283 a year. Most people pay $0 a month for Part A, whose hospital deductible is $1,736 per benefit period. Part D premiums, Medigap and Medicare Advantage vary by plan, so a yearly total depends on the coverage chosen.

Is Medicare free at 65?

Not entirely. Part A has no premium for most people because they or a spouse paid Medicare taxes long enough, generally at least 10 years of work, per medicare.gov. Part B carries the standard monthly premium and a yearly deductible. People who must buy Part A pay $311 or $565 a month in 2026, depending on work history.

How much do higher earners pay for Part B?

In 2026 the total Part B premium rises from $284.10 a month in the first income bracket to $689.90 a month in the top one. The first bracket starts above $109,000 on an individual return or above $218,000 on a joint return, and medicare.gov says the income comes from your tax return two years earlier.

What is the Part D out-of-pocket cap in 2026?

It is $2,100 a year in 2026, and medicare.gov prints $2,400 for 2027. After you reach it, covered Part D drugs cost nothing out of pocket for the rest of the calendar year. The deductible stage comes first and can be no more than $615 in 2026.

Does Original Medicare have a yearly out-of-pocket limit?

No. Medicare.gov says there is no yearly limit on out-of-pocket spending in Original Medicare unless you have supplemental coverage, such as Medigap, or join a Medicare Advantage plan, whose limit varies by plan. A 75-day hospital stay in one benefit period costs $8,246 under Part A alone, before any Part B doctor charges.

Cite this: Financeradar, "How Much Does Medicare Cost in 2026? Premiums, Deductibles and Income Surcharges", October 2026.