How much does Medicare cost per month?
Short answer
In 2026 most people pay $202.90 a month for Medicare Part B, and nothing for Part A. Part A is premium-free for anyone who paid Medicare payroll taxes for at least 40 quarters (about 10 years), which is the large majority of beneficiaries. On top of the Part B premium you pay whatever your prescription drug plan, Medicare Advantage plan or Medigap policy charges — those amounts are set by private insurers and vary by plan and by where you live.
The 2027 figures have not been published yet. CMS normally announces the following year's Part A and Part B premiums, deductibles and income brackets in November. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects a standard Part B premium of roughly $209.50 for 2027, but that is a projection, not the official rate. We will update this page the day CMS confirms it.
A "$0 premium" plan does not mean Medicare costs you nothing. A $0-premium Medicare Advantage plan charges no premium of its own, but you still pay your Part B premium every month, plus copays, coinsurance and deductibles when you actually use care.
What Medicare costs in 2026 — the confirmed figures
These are the official amounts published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for calendar year 2026. They apply nationwide and are not affected by which insurer you choose.
| What you pay | 2026 amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Part B standard monthly premium | $202.90 | Most people pay this. Higher earners pay more — see the income brackets below. |
| Part B annual deductible | $283 | You pay this once per calendar year before Part B starts paying its share. |
| Part A monthly premium | $0 for most people | Premium-free with 40+ quarters of Medicare-covered employment. $565 a month with fewer than 30 quarters. |
| Part A hospital deductible | $1,736 | Charged per benefit period, not per year. You can pay it more than once in a single year. |
| Part A coinsurance, hospital days 61–90 | $434 per day | Days 1–60 of a benefit period have no coinsurance after the deductible. |
| Part A coinsurance, lifetime reserve days | $868 per day | 60 lifetime reserve days total, and once used they are gone permanently. |
| Skilled nursing facility, days 21–100 | $217 per day | Days 1–20 are covered in full when you qualify. After day 100 you pay everything. |
| Part D maximum annual deductible | $615 | A cap, not a fixed amount. Many plans set a lower deductible or none at all. |
| Part D out-of-pocket cap | $2,100 | Once your covered drug spending reaches this, you pay $0 for covered drugs for the rest of the year. |
The premium is not the whole cost
People comparing plans almost always compare premiums, because that is the number in the advertising. The premium is the part you pay whether or not you see a doctor. The rest — deductibles, copays and coinsurance — only appears when you use care, which is exactly when a low-premium plan can turn out to be the expensive one.
Your realistic annual cost is made up of four things:
- Your Part B premium — $202.90 a month in 2026 for most people, paid to Medicare, usually deducted from Social Security.
- Your plan's premium — $0 to several hundred dollars a month depending on whether you choose a Medicare Advantage plan, a stand-alone Part D plan, a Medigap policy, or a combination.
- What you pay when you use care — deductibles, copays and coinsurance. Under Original Medicare alone this is open-ended; there is no annual limit on what you can be charged.
- What you pay for drugs — your Part D deductible and copays, capped at $2,100 out of pocket in 2026.
Higher earners pay more for Part B and Part D
If your income is above a threshold, you pay an Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) on top of the standard premium. Two things about IRMAA catch people out. First, it is based on your tax return from two years earlier — the 2026 amounts use your 2024 income. Second, it is a cliff, not a slope: one dollar over a threshold moves you into the whole next bracket.
| Single filer MAGI | Married filing jointly MAGI | Part B monthly premium | Added to Part D premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| $109,000 or less | $218,000 or less | $202.90 | — |
| Over $109,000 to $137,000 | Over $218,000 to $274,000 | $284.10 | +$14.50 |
| Over $137,000 to $171,000 | Over $274,000 to $342,000 | $405.80 | +$37.50 |
| Over $171,000 to $205,000 | Over $342,000 to $410,000 | $527.50 | +$60.40 |
| Over $205,000 to under $500,000 | Over $410,000 to under $750,000 | $649.20 | +$83.30 |
| $500,000 or more | $750,000 or more | $689.90 | +$91.00 |
What a Medicare Advantage plan costs
A Medicare Advantage plan replaces the way Original Medicare pays your claims, and the insurer sets its own premium and cost sharing. Plans are widely available with a $0 monthly premium, which is why so much Medicare advertising leads with that number.
What a $0 premium actually means:
- You still pay the Part B premium. $202.90 a month in 2026, to Medicare, not to the plan. Enrolling in Medicare Advantage does not reduce or replace it. A small number of plans pay part of it back for you, but that is a specific plan feature, not the norm.
- You pay copays and coinsurance when you use care — per doctor visit, per hospital stay, per test, per prescription. This is where the plan's real cost shows up.
- Every Medicare Advantage plan has an annual out-of-pocket maximum. This is a genuine advantage over Original Medicare on its own, which has no limit. The maximum varies by plan and can be several thousand dollars, and it applies to in-network medical care.
- Network rules affect cost as much as copays do. Going outside an HMO's network usually means paying the entire bill yourself. Checking that your own doctors are in-network matters more than comparing premiums.
Our Advantage vs Original Medicare comparison covers the full trade-off, and what these plans typically add for dental, vision and hearing is covered separately.
What a Medigap policy costs
Medigap (Medicare Supplement) premiums are not set by Medicare and vary a great deal — by state, by insurer, by your age, and in most states by whether you smoke. Two policies with the same plan letter cover exactly the same things by law, so an identical Plan G from two insurers differs only in price and service. That makes Medigap one of the few parts of Medicare where shopping on price is genuinely straightforward.
The cost that matters most with Medigap is not the monthly premium but the timing of when you buy it. During your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, and in certain guaranteed-issue situations, an insurer cannot refuse you or charge more because of your health. Outside those windows most states allow medical underwriting, and a policy that would have been available at a standard rate can become expensive or unavailable. Our guide to Medicare Advantage vs Medigap explains where those windows are.
What we know about 2027 costs
As of August 2026, CMS has not published the 2027 premiums, deductibles or income brackets. The announcement normally comes in November, which means the figures are usually confirmed during the Annual Enrollment Period rather than before it.
That has a practical consequence worth knowing when you shop in October and November:
- Plan premiums and benefits for 2027 are published before the Part B premium is. Insurers file their 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D plans well in advance, and those details are available when enrollment opens on October 15. The Part B premium, which everyone pays, typically is not.
- The only official projection is in the Medicare Trustees Report. The 2026 report projects a standard Part B premium of about $209.50 for 2027. Projections in that report have historically been in the right range but not exact.
- Treat any specific 2027 figure you see quoted right now as an estimate, including that one. If a site states a 2027 Part B premium as settled fact before the CMS announcement, it is guessing.
The rest of your 2027 shopping decision does not depend on that number. Everyone pays the same Part B premium regardless of which plan they pick, so it does not change which plan is better for you — it changes your total, not your comparison.
If the cost is the problem, check assistance before you shop
There are four programs that reduce Medicare costs for people with limited income and savings, and between them they can cover the Part B premium entirely, wipe out drug copays, or both. They are significantly underused — large numbers of people who qualify have never applied, usually because they assumed their income was too high.
The saving from qualifying is generally far larger than the saving from switching to a cheaper plan. If money is the reason you are comparing plans, start there: see what the cheapest Medicare plan is on a fixed income, which covers Medicare Savings Programs, Extra Help, dual Medicaid eligibility and PACE.
Where these figures come from
The 2026 amounts on this page are the official CMS figures announced in November 2025 and published in the Federal Register. The 2027 projection is from the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report. For the complete official picture, including every option available to you, see Medicare.gov's cost pages, the CMS 2026 Parts A & B fact sheet, or call 1-800-MEDICARE.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Medicare cost per month?
In 2026 most people pay $202.90 a month for Part B and nothing for Part A, plus whatever their drug plan, Medicare Advantage plan or Medigap policy charges. Part A is premium-free for anyone with at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment. People with modified adjusted gross income above $109,000 as a single filer or $218,000 filing jointly pay more for Part B, on a scale that runs up to $689.90 a month.
What is the Medicare Part B premium in 2027?
It has not been announced yet. CMS normally publishes the following year's Part B premium in November, so the 2027 figure is expected in November 2026. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects approximately $209.50 a month, but that is a projection rather than the official rate. Anyone quoting a definite 2027 Part B premium before the CMS announcement is estimating.
Is Medicare Part A really free?
Part A has no monthly premium for most people, because it was paid for through Medicare payroll taxes during your working life — you need 40 quarters, about 10 years, of Medicare-covered employment. It is not free to use: the 2026 hospital deductible is $1,736 per benefit period, with daily coinsurance of $434 for hospital days 61 to 90. If you have fewer than 30 quarters you pay a $565 monthly premium for Part A in 2026.
Does a $0 premium Medicare Advantage plan mean I pay nothing?
No. A $0 premium means the plan charges no premium of its own. You still pay your Part B premium to Medicare every month — $202.90 in 2026 for most people — and you still pay copays, coinsurance and any plan deductible when you use care. The $0 describes the plan's charge, not your total cost of coverage.
Why is my Medicare premium higher than $202.90?
Most likely an income-related surcharge (IRMAA), which applies if your modified adjusted gross income was above $109,000 as a single filer or $218,000 married filing jointly. It is based on your tax return from two years earlier, so the 2026 surcharge uses your 2024 income. If your income has dropped since then because of retirement, reduced hours, the death of a spouse, divorce or loss of a pension, you can ask Social Security to recalculate it using form SSA-44.
Is there a cap on what I pay for prescription drugs?
Yes. Since the Part D redesign, there is an annual out-of-pocket cap — $2,100 in 2026. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs reaches it, you pay nothing for covered drugs for the rest of the calendar year. The old coverage gap, the "donut hole", no longer exists; the benefit now runs through a deductible phase, an initial coverage phase and then catastrophic coverage.
Is there a limit on what Original Medicare can cost me in a year?
No. Original Medicare on its own has no annual out-of-pocket maximum for Part A and Part B services. That is the reason many people add a Medigap policy, which pays some or all of that cost sharing, or choose a Medicare Advantage plan, which is required to have an annual out-of-pocket maximum for in-network care.
Do I pay the Part B premium if I am still working at 65?
Only if you enroll in Part B. If you have qualifying employer coverage through your own or a spouse's current employment, you may be able to delay Part B without a late enrollment penalty and avoid the premium until you retire. Whether that is the right choice depends on the size of the employer and the type of coverage — see our guide on signing up at 65, including the COBRA and HSA traps.
Find out what Medicare will actually cost you
The Part B premium is the same for everyone, but what you pay on top of it depends on the plans available where you live and on the care you actually use. Tell us a little about yourself and a licensed insurance agent can walk you through the real numbers on the plans in your area. There is no cost and no obligation.
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Related guides
- Is a $0 Medicare Advantage plan really free? — what the $0 covers and what it does not
- What is the cheapest Medicare plan on a fixed income? — the assistance programs that beat plan shopping
- Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare — the cost structures compared side by side
- Medicare enrollment periods and deadlines — when you can act on any of this