If you're on Original Medicare — meaning you rely on Part A for hospital coverage and Part B for outpatient and doctor services — 2026 brings a fresh set of cost-sharing numbers you need to know cold. These aren't small print details. They directly affect your monthly budget, your out-of-pocket exposure during a hospitalization, and whether your current Medigap or Medicare Advantage plan still makes financial sense. Let's walk through every number that matters.
Starting with Part B, the standard monthly premium for 2026 is $185.00. That's up $10.30 from the $174.70 you paid in 2025. For most beneficiaries, this amount is automatically deducted from your Social Security benefit each month, so you may notice your net Social Security deposit is slightly smaller starting in January 2026. If you're not yet collecting Social Security, you'll receive a quarterly bill from Medicare instead. The Part B annual deductible — the amount you must pay out of pocket before Medicare starts covering 80% of approved outpatient costs — is $257 in 2026, up from $240 in 2025. Once you've met that deductible, Medicare pays 80% of covered services and you're responsible for the remaining 20% coinsurance, with no annual out-of-pocket cap under Original Medicare alone.
High-income beneficiaries pay more through a surcharge called IRMAA — the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. In 2026, if your modified adjusted gross income reported on your 2024 tax return exceeded $106,000 as an individual (or $212,000 for a married couple filing jointly), you'll pay more than the standard $185.00 premium. The IRMAA tiers for 2026 push Part B premiums as high as $628.90 per month for the highest income bracket. If you had a major income change in 2024 or 2025 — such as selling a home, taking a large IRA distribution, or retiring — you can appeal your IRMAA determination using IRS Form SSA-44, which documents a life-changing event. This is worth doing if your income has genuinely dropped, because the savings can be substantial.
On the hospital side, Part A covers inpatient stays, skilled nursing facility care, hospice, and some home health services. Most people don't pay a Part A premium because they or their spouse worked and paid Medicare taxes for at least 40 quarters (10 years). If you have 30 to 39 quarters of work history, your Part A premium in 2026 is $285 per month. Fewer than 30 quarters means a $518 monthly premium. The bigger number most beneficiaries need to watch is the Part A inpatient deductible: $1,676 per benefit period in 2026, up from $1,632 in 2025. A benefit period begins the day you're admitted as an inpatient and ends after you've been out of the hospital or skilled nursing facility for 60 consecutive days. Critically, there is no limit to how many benefit periods you can have in a year — meaning if you're hospitalized, recover, and are hospitalized again more than 60 days later, you owe that $1,676 deductible again.
For days 1 through 60 of a hospital stay, you pay only the deductible. From days 61 through 90, you pay a daily coinsurance of $419 per day in 2026. If your stay extends beyond 90 days, you can draw on your 60 lifetime reserve days, at a coinsurance rate of $838 per day in 2026. Once those lifetime reserve days are exhausted, Medicare pays nothing for inpatient care. For skilled nursing facility stays — which require a qualifying 3-day inpatient hospital stay first — Medicare covers the first 20 days in full. Days 21 through 100 carry a daily coinsurance of $209.50 in 2026. After day 100, Medicare pays nothing and you're entirely responsible for the cost.
For Florida beneficiaries specifically, these federal cost-sharing numbers are the same statewide, but how you protect yourself against them varies. Florida does not have a birthday rule for Medigap plans — that provision, which allows beneficiaries to switch Medigap policies without medical underwriting during a 30-day window around their birthday, exists in states like California, Oregon, Nevada, and about a dozen others, but not Florida. That means if you're in Florida and want to switch Medigap plans outside of your initial enrollment period, insurers can generally use medical underwriting and may deny coverage or charge higher premiums based on your health history. Your best window to enroll in a Medigap plan without underwriting is during your 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which begins the month you turn 65 and are enrolled in Part B. Missing that window can make supplemental coverage harder and more expensive to obtain later. The Florida Department of Financial Services oversees insurance regulation in the state and can be reached at myfloridacfo.com/division/consumers.
Medigap plans — also called Medicare Supplement Insurance — are designed specifically to cover the gaps these cost-sharing numbers create. A Medigap Plan G, for example, covers the Part A deductible, Part A coinsurance, Part B coinsurance, and skilled nursing facility coinsurance, leaving you responsible only for the Part B deductible ($257 in 2026) and your monthly Medigap premium. Plan N covers similar benefits but requires copays of up to $20 for office visits and up to $50 for emergency room visits. Premiums for these plans vary significantly by insurer, age, and location — in Florida, a 65-year-old might find Plan G premiums ranging from roughly $100 to $200 or more per month depending on the carrier and county. Comparing plans through Medicare.gov's plan finder or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE can help you identify the lowest-cost option for identical coverage.
If you're enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan rather than Original Medicare, these Part A and Part B cost-sharing numbers don't directly apply to your day-to-day care — your plan has its own copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums. However, you still pay the Part B premium ($185.00 per month in 2026) in addition to any plan premium your Medicare Advantage carrier charges. Some Medicare Advantage plans in Florida offer a Part B premium reduction benefit, effectively giving back a portion of that $185.00 each month. Whether that trade-off makes sense depends on your specific health needs, your preferred doctors, and the plan's network restrictions — factors that deserve careful review during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 through December 7) each year.
If your income is limited, you may qualify for programs that reduce or eliminate these costs entirely. The Medicare Savings Programs — administered through Florida Medicaid — can pay your Part B premium, and in some cases your Part A premium and cost-sharing, depending on your income and assets. The Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program covers the most, while the Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) and Qualifying Individual (QI) programs cover the Part B premium only. In 2026, the income limits for these programs are updated annually, so checking with your local Florida Department of Children and Families office or calling 1-800-MEDICARE can confirm whether you qualify. The Extra Help program for Part D prescription drug costs is a separate but related benefit worth exploring at the same time.
The bottom line for 2026 is this: Original Medicare's cost-sharing has increased modestly but meaningfully. A $10.30 monthly premium increase adds up to $123.60 more per year. The Part A deductible increase of $44 per benefit period can matter enormously if you face a hospitalization. Building a clear picture of your total potential exposure — and deciding whether a Medigap plan, Medicare Advantage, or a combination of savings programs best closes those gaps — is the most valuable financial planning exercise a Medicare beneficiary can do right now.