Retirees will get a Social Security benefit increase in 2026 since the Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% Cost of Living Adjustment.
This isn't a surprise, as COLAs typically happen on an annual basis to ensure that Social Security benefits increase as prices rise due to inflation. While the amount changes year over year based on actual inflation levels, there have been very few years when retirees didn't see their benefits go up at least a little bit.
This year's COLA is small by post-pandemic standards, but it is larger than last year's 2.5% raise and offers retirees a reasonable amount of extra money compared with COLAs that seniors have collected in past years.
Unfortunately, retirees are not going to get to keep all of their benefit increases. In fact, a good portion of the extra money is going to be eaten up by one particular expense: rising Medicare premiums.
Most retirees get Medicare premiums taken right out of their Social Security checks, so they won't see every dollar of the raise come into their bank account. If you are on Medicare, it's important to understand exactly how much of your retirement benefits increase Medicare is going to disappear.
Here's what you need to know about how much you stand to lose.
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Medicare premiums will cost you this much of your Social Security raise
In 2026, baseline Medicare premiums for Part B medical coverage are going up to $202.90 per month, while they were $185.00 in 2025. This means that retirees will lose $17.90 of their Social Security COLA to Medicare premium increases. This is close to a 10% increase in premiums that is coming right off the Social Security raise.
For a typical retiree who is getting around $2,000 in monthly benefits and who is on track for a raise of around $56, losing $17.90 of that amount will mean that close to a third of the COLA is gone before it hits their bank accounts.
This is a blow to seniors who have already been reporting to the Senior Citizens League that their benefits are not helping them cope with cost increases they are experiencing and who have said they are barely getting by with the checks they have coming in.
With a good amount of the much-needed raise disappearing, this could unfortunately mean retirees end up taking more money out of 401(k) or other retirement plans to cover costs.
Some seniors pay different premiums
While Medicare beneficiaries are all facing the $17.90 premium increase in 2026, it's important to note that not all retirees will pay exactly $202.90 per month next year.
That's because some high earners pay higher Medicare premiums due to the Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. This is an extra amount that is added to standard premiums for Medicare Part B for high earners based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income as determined by income data on tax returns from two years prior.
Around 5.1 million Medicare beneficiaries pay higher premiums for Medicare because of their income. However, the income threshold at which you are subject to the extra charges changes over time.
In 2025, the base income level at which premiums increase was $106,000 for singles and $212,000 for joint filers, and for 2026, it's increasing to $109,000 for singles and $218,000 for married joint filers.
This increase is good news, as some retirees who may have earned enough to pay higher premiums last year may not be above the higher income thresholds that require them to pay more in 2026. There are also multiple tiers of additional premiums, and the income needed to move from one to another is also going up.
You can find the IRMAA tables on the Social Security website to see which income range you'll fall into if your income is above $109,000 or $218,000. This will help you see what your premiums will look like in 2026 if you are within these higher income thresholds.
The bottom line, though, is that the increase in base premiums is coming in 2026, so the important thing for all retirees is to plan and prepare for that so you aren't disappointed when your full COLA doesn't end up in your Social Security check because of it.
