Goodsurance
ES

Costs & IRMAA

Your 2027 raise, and what eats it

Early estimates put next year's Social Security cost-of-living raise somewhere between about 3.8 and 4.7 percent. History says a good chunk of it gets quietly absorbed by the Medicare Part B premium.

By the Goodsurance editorial teamJune 27, 2026

Every autumn, two numbers decide what really lands in an older household's budget: the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and the Medicare Part B premium, which for most people is pulled straight out of the Social Security check before it arrives. The 2027 COLA will not be official until October 2026, when the government runs the third-quarter inflation figures, but the early estimates are in. The Senior Citizens League projects about 3.8 percent, while the independent analyst Mary Johnson has pointed to as high as 4.7 percent. Either way it would be one of the larger raises of the past decade. The reason the raise can feel smaller than the headline is mechanical, not mysterious. The Part B premium tends to rise too, and because it is deducted from the Social Security payment, an increase there offsets part of the COLA before a beneficiary ever sees it. For 2026 the standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month; the 2027 figure has not been set and will be announced later this year. So the honest framing for planning is two-sided: a 3.8 to 4.7 percent raise is real and welcome, and some of it will go back out the door as a higher health premium, with the net depending on figures that are not final yet. None of this is a reason to panic or to make a coverage change you would not otherwise make. It is a reason to wait for the official October numbers before budgeting the raise, and to remember that the Part B premium is the same whether you are in Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.

Early estimates put the 2027 Social Security raise at about 3.8 to 4.7 percent, but the Medicare Part B premium usually eats part of it before you see it.

In plain words

Each year, Social Security gives a raise to keep up with prices. Early guesses for 2027 are between about 3.8 and 4.7 percent. The real number comes out in October. Here is why the raise can feel smaller: the Medicare Part B premium usually goes up too, and it is taken out of your Social Security check before you get it. So part of the raise goes right back out for health coverage. Right now the Part B premium is $202.90 a month; next year's is not set yet. The smart move is to wait for the October numbers before you count on the extra money.

Understand the basics first

Source: CNBC
Read at the source →

More news

Other stories on what is moving in Medicare.

Costs & IRMAA

Medicare Will Pay 20 Percent Less for the Cheaper Service When a Doctor Bills Both a Visit and a Procedure on the Same Day Starting in 2027

A provision in the final 2027 physician pay rule, published today in the Federal Register, trims reimbursement when a physician furnishes an office visit and a minor procedure on the same date. CMS projects the change will prevent approximately 2.38 billion dollars in extra Medicare payments over the next 10 years.

November 9, 2026

Costs & IRMAA

Medicare Finalizes 2027 Outpatient Rule, Cutting Drug Costs for Patients at Hospital Clinics

CMS issued a final rule November 4 that sets a 2.3 percent hospital outpatient payment increase for 2027 and lowers what Medicare pays hospitals for 340B-acquired drugs, projecting average savings of about 900 dollars for beneficiaries who receive a qualifying drug at a hospital outpatient department.

November 5, 2026

Costs & IRMAA

Nearly All Medicare Stand-Alone Drug Plan Members Will Face a Deductible in 2027, With Averages Up Sharply

A KFF analysis of 2027 Part D plan designs finds average deductibles rising to 643 dollars for stand-alone plan enrollees and 489 dollars for Medicare Advantage drug plan members, while the share of enrollees subject to any deductible expanded in both plan types.

October 30, 2026

Costs & IRMAA

CMS Finalizes 2027 Medicare Dialysis Payment Rate at 297 Dollars and 52 Cents, With a Larger Add-On for Home Dialysis Training

A final rule issued October 28 sets the per-treatment base rate for kidney dialysis facilities and raises the payment designed to encourage training patients to do dialysis at home.

October 29, 2026

Costs & IRMAA

Medicare's Hospital Fund Is Projected to Fall Short of Full Payment Capacity by 2033, Trustees Report Finds

The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects the Part A Hospital Insurance fund will be partially depleted in 2033, at which point incoming revenues would cover only 89 percent of covered costs, absent new legislation.

October 26, 2026

Costs & IRMAA

KFF: Nearly Half of Traditional Medicare Beneficiaries Hold Medigap, as Average Monthly Premiums Reach 244 Dollars

A KFF analysis released two days before open enrollment finds 12.9 million people carry supplemental Medigap policies, that average premiums rose 7 percent in a single year, and that Plan G now covers nearly half of all policyholders.

October 15, 2026