Medicare's standard monthly Part B premium will jump to $202.90 in 2026, a 9.7% increase from $185 in 2025, adding to the pressure on seniors already facing rising health costs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.
Monthly Actuarial Rates Rise Alongside Higher Deductibles
In a notice released this month, CMS also set the 2026 monthly actuarial rates for Part B at $405.40 for seniors and $585.60 for disabled enrollees, figures that help determine how costs are split between beneficiaries and the federal government.
The premium hike is nearly double the percentage increase for 2025, when the standard Part B premium rose from $174.70 in 2024 to $185. The annual deductible for all Part B enrollees will climb to $283 next year.
Part B, as per the Medicare website, generally covers doctor visits, outpatient hospital care, ambulance services, certain prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, oxygen therapy and treatment for substance use disorders.
Skin Substitute Crackdown Aims To Curb Soaring Costs
According to a report by The Hill, the Trump administration said that the increase would have been steeper without an aggressive push to rein in Part B spending on skin substitutes, which include biologic and synthetic products used in outpatient wound care.
In a July rulemaking, CMS proposed measures to "reduce waste and unnecessary use of skin substitutes," citing data that Part B spending on those products soared from about $256 million in 2019 to more than $10 billion by 2024.
A September report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General warned that skin substitutes "have skyrocketed" to over $10 billion a year and "seem particularly vulnerable to questionable billing and fraud schemes," urging swift payment reforms.
Premium Hike May Erode Social Security Gains
In a statement announcing next year's premiums, CMS said the 2026 increase is "mainly due to projected price changes and assumed utilization increases," but added that without the skin-substitute crackdown, the standard premium would be about $11 higher per month.
The higher premiums will land just as Social Security benefits rise 2.8% in 2026, a cost-of-living adjustment that analysts already warn may feel underwhelming once Medicare deductions are factored in.
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