If you're on Medicare, the letter showing up in your mailbox this fall is going to sting a little more than last year's.
The standard Part B premium is rising to $202.90 a month in 2026, up from $185.00 in 2025.
That's roughly a $215 annual bump for the typical enrollee, and it comes on top of whatever you're already paying for groceries, utilities, and prescriptions.
The math gets worse depending on your income.
Higher earners pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount, or IRMAA, which stacks extra dollars on top of the base premium.
A single filer above $109,000 or a couple above $218,000 crosses into surcharge territory, and the top tier pays north of $600 a month for Part B alone.
Most people never see that number until they open the envelope.
Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, and preventive services, and its costs are tied to overall health care spending, which keeps outpacing general inflation.
When hospital and physician costs rise, premiums follow.
Medicare bases the number on projected spending and how much of its trust fund it needs to draw down.
There's a surprising wrinkle many retirees miss: your Social Security cost-of-living adjustment often gets swallowed by the premium hike.
The 2026 COLA is projected around 2.7%, but for someone receiving $1,800 a month, that's only about $49 more.
After a $17.90 premium increase, a chunk of that raise disappears before it ever hits your bank account.
Some years, the net gain is close to zero.
If your income dropped because of a life event, like retirement, divorce, death of a spouse, or loss of a pension, you can ask Social Security to reconsider your IRMAA.
They'll look at your current situation instead of your tax return from two years ago, which is what the surcharge is normally based on.
File Form SSA-44 and be ready to show documentation.
You generally have 60 days from the date on your IRMAA determination notice to request a review.
Miss that window and you're often stuck paying the higher amount for the full year.
Set a reminder the moment that letter arrives.
Also worth checking: whether you're paying for Part B at all when you don't need it.
If you're still working and covered by an employer plan, there may be a special enrollment period later.
And if you're enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, your Part B premium still comes out of your Social Security check separately, which trips people up every year.
One more thing that catches enrollees off guard is the late enrollment penalty.
Skip Part B when you were first eligible and didn't have qualifying coverage elsewhere, and you'll pay an extra 10% for every 12 months you waited, permanently.
That penalty gets added to whatever the standard premium becomes each year, so it grows with inflation too.
The bottom line: premiums are going up, and there's no way around the base number for most people.
But the surcharges and penalties are where real money hides, and those are the parts you can sometimes challenge.
Our take: don't just accept the deduction on your Social Security statement without a second look.
Read the notice, check your income tier, and file for reconsideration if your circumstances changed.
Final Thoughts
A 20-minute phone call or a stamped form could save you hundreds over the year, and that's a better return than most things you'll do all month.