It’s official. Medicare spending will eat up a large increase in the Social Security cost of living for older Americans next year.
Standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B, which covers ambulatory care, physician services, durable medical equipment, and preventive services, in 2026. will be $202.90 on November 14th. reported the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That’s $17.90, or nearly 9.7 percent.
That’s less than the $21.50 increase Medicare trustees had previously projected, but still the second largest dollar increase in the program’s history after 2022. A gain of $21.60 and almost 3.5 times the 2.8 percent. social security next year. That means seniors’ living standards will likely fall again, experts said.
in 2024 poverty increased only among the elderly. In all other age groups, poverty decreased or remained the same.
“It’s likely that the public will perceive this Part B increase as taking up a large portion or even most of the COLA,” said Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst. “In other words, another continuation of ruthless spending is stretching consumer finances.”
The Social Security Administration reported that since January Social Security checks will increase by an average of $56 due to the 2.8% COLA. The $17.90 increase in Medicare Part B reduces the average monthly COLA increase to $38.10.
Such a large increase in Medicare Part B would likely result in a hold-no-harm provision for Social Security recipients with Social Security benefits of $640 or less, Johnson said.
Medicare’s hold harmless provision prevents Part B premium increases from being greater than the Social Security COLA. If the premium increase is more than the COLA, the rule prevents the recipient from paying the full increase. The portion of the increase that those beneficiaries do not pay is distributed among others not covered by the rule.
For people with Social Security benefits of $640 or less, A 2.8% COLA next year will mean just less than an $18 per month increase in their Social Security checks. Without the hold harmless rule, an increase in the Part B premium would result in the loss of the entire COLA.
According to government data, in 2022 only about 1.5% of Medicare beneficiaries had their Part B premiums limited by the hold harmless provision. Part B 2022 increased by $21.60 to $170.10, and the average monthly COLA increase increased Social Security checks by $92.
In 2017, when Medicare premiums jumped 10% or $12.20 to $134.00, well above the 0.3% or $5 average monthly COLA increase, 70% of Medicare Part B students paid less than the standard Part B premium because of the hold harmless provision.