2026 Medicare Rates Released

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has made it official: your Medicare costs will rise in 2026, and the increase will absorb a significant share of next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B will reach $202.90, a $17.90 jump from the 2025 rate of $185.00. While smaller than the $21.50 increase projected by Medicare Trustees earlier this year, it still represents one of the largest annual dollar hikes in the program’s history.

The nearly 9.7% increase dwarfs the 2.8% Social Security COLA, a mismatch that experts warn will reduce purchasing power for millions of retirees. Seniors were the only age group to experience a rise in poverty in 2024, and analysts say the 2026 adjustment could deepen financial strain.

Read more here. The fact sheet from CMS Newsroom showing 2026 Medicare Parts A & B premiums and deductibles can be found here.

A Social Security and Medicare Cheat Sheets for 2025 and 2026 are available for you to review and make comparisons as well on our References page.