COLA Ledger

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

The Medicare Part B premium, every year we can source it

The premium that comes out of the Social Security payment before it reaches the bank. Every figure below is read from that year’s own Federal Register notice — the legally operative text — rather than from a summary.

2026 standard monthly premium

$202.90

+$18 on 2025. The annual deductible is $283.

Years covered
222005 to 2026
Premium in 2005
$78.204.64% a year since
Effect on a $2,000 benefit
+$38gross rose +$56

The two announcements that decide what lands in January are made a month apart. The cost-of-living adjustment arrives in October; the Part B premium arrives in mid-November. Until the second one lands, no honest net figure for the coming year exists. Why the calendar works that way.

Medicare Part B standard monthly premium and annual deductible, every year with a committed Federal Register record
YearStandard premiumChangeAnnual deductiblePage
2026$202.90+$17.90$2832026 detail
2025$185.00+$10.30$2572025 detail
2024$174.70+$9.80$2402024 detail
2023$164.90-$5.20$2262023 detail
2022$170.10+$21.60$2332022 detail
2021$148.50+$3.90$2032021 detail
2020$144.60+$9.10$1982020 detail
2019$135.50+$1.50$1852019 detail
2018$134.00no change$1832018 detail
2017$134.00+$12.20$1832017 detail
2016$121.80+$16.90$1662016 detail
2015$104.90no change$1472015 detail
2014$104.90no change$1472014 detail
2013$104.90+$5.00$1472013 detail
2012$99.90-$15.50$1402012 detail
2011$115.40+$4.90$1622011 detail
2010$110.50+$14.10$1552010 detail
2009$96.40no change$1352009 detail
2008$96.40+$2.90$1352008 detail
2007$93.50+$5.00$1312007 detail
2006$88.50+$10.30$1242006 detail
2005$78.20$1102005 detail

Why the series starts in 2005

The Part B annual deductible series begins in 2005. Notices before that announce a premium but no deductible: the deductible was statutorily fixed at $100, and the Medicare Modernization Act (P.L. 108-173) set the 2005 deductible at $110 and required indexing only from 2006 ("requires that the Part B deductible be indexed beginning in 2006", FR 04-20412). SPEC section 4.1 sized Class C at 2000-2026; the primary sources support 2005-2026.

Every year in detail

The rest of the Medicare ledger

The headline adjustment for 2026 was 2.8%, but the premium increase took a real share of it. That share, computed across the whole benefit ladder.

Sources and freshness

Federal Register text retrieved from govinfo. cms.gov blocks automated retrieval, and PDF mirrors of CMS fact sheets have been observed to parse into plausible but wrong tables, so neither is used as a source here.

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