COLA Ledger

An independent reference — not affiliated with the Social Security Administration. Every figure traced to the government publication that produced it.

Medicare Part A costs in 2026

Part A covers inpatient hospital care and is premium-free for most people. What it costs is a deductible per benefit period and a set of daily coinsurance rates — and all of them are exact fractions of the deductible.

2026 inpatient deductible, per benefit period

$1,736

Not an annual deductible. A benefit period starts on admission and ends after 60 consecutive days out of hospital, so more than one can fall in a calendar year.

Days 1–60
$0after the deductible
Days 61–90
$434/day
Lifetime reserve
$868/day60 days, once ever
Skilled nursing 21–100
$217.00/day

The whole schedule

2026 Medicare Part A cost sharing and premiums
Item2026How it is set
Inpatient hospital deductible$1,736Per benefit period, not per year
Coinsurance, days 61–90$434One quarter of the deductible, per day
Coinsurance, lifetime reserve days$868One half of the deductible, per day
Skilled nursing facility, days 21–100$217.00One eighth of the deductible, per day
Part A premium, fewer than 30 quarters of coverage$565Monthly, for people without enough covered work
Part A premium, 30 to 39 quarters$311Monthly, reduced rate

The ratios are exact, and that is a useful check

The day-61 rate is exactly a quarter of the deductible, the lifetime-reserve rate exactly a half, and the skilled-nursing rate exactly an eighth. $1,736 divided by four is $434; divided by two, $868; divided by eight, $217.00. Any published table where those three relationships fail has a typo in it. This site asserts all three as a build gate.

Most people pay no Part A premium

Forty quarters of covered work — ten years — makes Part A premium-free. Below that, the two rates above apply, and they are large enough that the gap matters: at $565 a month, a year of Part A costs $6,780. Quarters of coverage are earned against an annual earnings threshold that moves each year. What one credit has cost in earnings, every year since 1978.

Part A does not come out of the Social Security payment the way Part B does, which is why the ledger pages on this site deduct only the Part B premium. The Part B premium series is here.

Related

Sources and freshness

Part B immunosuppressive-drug IRMAA amounts run about 10 cents below the full Part B amounts at each tier ($81.10 vs $81.20). That is a real artifact of the statute's application, not a transcription error, and must not be "corrected".

Figures effective 1 January 2026. Page figures last verified against the sources above on 10 August 2026. Corrections: the correction log · support@inventum.com.au