What to know: 2026 Social Security and Medicare rates
Written by Phil Moeller, UnitedHealthcare contributor, Medicare and Retirement expert
The 2026 Social Security annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be 2.8% – much lower than the nearly 10% increase for Medicare’s Part B premium, which will rise by $17.90 a month to $202.90 from $185 this year.
Part B covers doctors, medical equipment, and outpatient expenses. The Part B premiums are deducted from Social Security payments for people claiming retirement benefits.
The $17.90 monthly Part B premium increase will eat up more than a third of the $56 COLA increase for the average beneficiary, who receives a $2,015 monthly Social Security benefit. Lower-income retirees will see smaller net Social Security payment increases next year.
Retirees with monthly Social Security benefits of $640 or less will see no Social Security increase next year. However, their Part B premiums will be reduced due to Social Security’s “hold harmless” rule that prevents Social Security benefits from being cut from one year to the next.1
The 2026 COLA announcement2 also indicated that payroll taxes will be levied on taxable incomes up to $184,500, which is $8,400 higher than this year’s earnings ceiling of $176,100.
Other Medicare changes
The annual deductible for Part B will rise $26, or 10 percent, to $283 from $257 this year.
Major deductibles and co-pays for hospital insurance will rise 3.6 percent next year. These are not annual charges but normally apply to 60-day episodes of care.
People on Original Medicare with private Medigap supplement insurance and those with private Medicare Advantage plans should check with their insurers for estimates on the out-of-pocket impact of the new rates.
The agency also announced3 other 2026 Medicare cost information, including the high-income surcharges paid by the wealthiest 8 percent of Medicare enrollees.
Click here for more details.
Author bio
Philip Moeller is the principal author of the Get What’s Yours series of books about Social Security, Medicare, and health care. Read his Substack newsletter and connect with him on LinkedIn.
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