COLA Ledger

An independent reference — not affiliated with the Social Security Administration. Every figure traced to the government publication that produced it.

2026 Medicare Part B premium — $202.90

Standard monthly Part B premium, 2026

$202.90

+$18 on 2025. The annual deductible was $283, +$26 on the year before.

Standard premium
$202.90per month
Annual deductible
$283
Change on 2025
+$189.68%
Highest tier
$689.906 income brackets

What it did to a Social Security payment

The Part B premium is withheld from the Social Security payment, so it lands in the same January as the cost-of-living adjustment and the two move against each other. A $2,000 monthly benefit in 2025 became $2,056 gross with the 2.8% adjustment — a rise of +$56. After the premium went from $185.00 to $202.90, the payment rose +$38, an effective 2.09%.

A $2,000 benefit through the 2026 adjustment and premium
20252026
Gross monthly benefit$2,000$2,056
Part B premium$185.00$202.90
Net payment$1,815$1,853

The full ledger for a $2,000 benefit at current rates carries the annual figures and the percentile context.

The 2026 income-related tiers

Anyone whose modified adjusted gross income on the 2024 tax return crossed the first threshold paid more than the standard premium. The adjustment is a flat dollar amount per tier, not a percentage of income, and it steps at the bracket boundary rather than phasing in.

2026 Medicare Part B income-related monthly adjustment, by 2024 modified adjusted gross income
SingleMarried filing jointlyMarried filing separatelyAdjustmentTotal Part BPart D adjustment
Up to $109,000Up to $218,000Up to $109,000none$202.90none
$109,001 to $137,000$218,001 to $274,000$81.20$284.10$14.50
$137,001 to $171,000$274,001 to $342,000$202.90$405.80$37.50
$171,001 to $205,000$342,001 to $410,000$324.60$527.50$60.40
$205,001 to $499,999$410,001 to $749,999$109,001 to $390,999$446.30$649.20$83.30
$500,000 and above$750,000 and above$391,000 and above$487.00$689.90$91.00

The 2026 brackets in detail, including the reconstruction check — every tier is verified against the statutory multipliers as well as against the notice.

Related

Sources and freshness

CMS computes each tier from the unrounded monthly actuarial rate, so exact reconstruction from the rounded standard premium is impossible. SPEC section 3.7 fixes the tolerance at $0.10, which holds for 2026 but is not the right bound generally: the standard premium carries up to $0.05 of rounding error, multiplying it by 3.4 propagates that to $0.17, and the dime rounding of the tier itself adds another $0.05. The bound is therefore per-tier. Never round the reconstruction, and never assert exact equality against it. Exact equality is asserted only between the committed tables and their Federal Register / POMS sources.

Figures effective 1 January 2026. Page figures last verified against the sources above on 10 August 2026. Corrections: the correction log · support@inventum.com.au