Every year around this time, I get a wave of calls that all start the same way. “My premium notice showed up and I don’t understand it.” I don’t blame anyone for being confused. Medicare’s cost structure has a lot of moving parts, and 2026 brought some real increases. Let’s go through the numbers that actually matter, straight from the source.
The Part B premium is going up
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed the standard monthly Part B premium is $202.90 for 2026, up from $185.00 in 2025. That’s a jump of almost $18 a month for most people. The annual Part B deductible rose too, from $257 to $283. You can see the full breakdown directly from CMS.gov if you want to check the numbers yourself, which I always encourage.
If your income is higher, so is your premium
This is the part people are least prepared for. It’s called IRMAA, the income related monthly adjustment amount, and it applies if your income was above certain thresholds two years ago. For 2026, that threshold is $109,000 for an individual or $218,000 for a married couple filing jointly, based on your 2024 tax return. If you’re above that line, your Part B premium can range anywhere from $284.10 up to $689.90 a month depending on how far above the threshold you fall, according to figures reported by Kiplinger. There’s a matching surcharge on your Part D drug premium too. The Social Security Administration decides who owes IRMAA each year based on your tax return, and lays out the full rules directly on SSA.gov. I’ve had clients genuinely shocked to learn a strong investment year two years ago is now costing them hundreds of dollars a month in Medicare premiums. If that sounds like it could be you, it’s worth a conversation about how income timing affects this before it happens, not after.
Hospital costs are rising as well
If you end up in the hospital, the Part A inpatient deductible for 2026 is $1,736, up from $1,676 the year before. Stay past 60 days and you’re looking at $434 a day in coinsurance through day 90. These are exactly the costs that either Medigap or a well chosen Medicare Advantage plan is designed to protect you from, which is why I always come back to the same point. The sticker price you see for a plan is only half the story.
The one piece of good news: prescription drugs
Here’s something worth knowing. Starting in 2025 and continuing into 2026, Medicare put a hard cap on what you’ll pay out of pocket for covered prescription drugs in a calendar year. That cap is $2,100 for 2026. Once you hit it, your plan covers 100 percent of your covered drug costs for the rest of the year. For anyone on expensive maintenance medications, this is a genuinely meaningful change, and it applies whether you’re on Original Medicare with a standalone Part D plan or a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage built in.
Why the fine print matters more this year
The Wall Street Journal has reported that several major insurers are raising out of pocket maximums and adding new cost sharing on plans that used to be low cost or even free, as part of a broader industry shift toward pricing for profitability rather than enrollment growth, according to WSJ reporting cited by the Connecticut Hospital Association. That’s not a scare tactic, it’s just the reality of this year’s plan landscape, and it’s exactly why I tell clients not to auto-renew into the same plan out of habit.
Bottom line
Costs are going up almost across the board in 2026, but the plans that protect you best haven’t changed, they’ve just gotten more important to choose carefully. If you want help running your actual numbers instead of guessing from a mailer, that’s what we’re here for. Call the office at 877-549-1212 and we’ll sit down with your specific situation.
Tracy McManamon, President, One Source Benefits, LLC
