Medicare premiums will rise in 2025, targeting retirees’ Social Security checks

Medicare premiums will rise in 2025, targeting retirees’ Social Security checks

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Seniors expecting an increase in Social Security checks next year may be upset to find that a chunk of the increased money has already been announced.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 2025 monthly Part B premiums will rise to $185, an increase of $10.30 from $174.70 in 2024. And the annual Part B deductible, which most people must pay for their Medicare coverage first, will rise by $17, or 7%, up to $257 from $240.

The news follows the Social Security Administration’s announcement of a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025, which will add $50 to the average monthly benefit of $190,000, according to the SSA.

Fortunately, the bump in benefits would provide some breathing room for more than 75 million retired and disabled workers who have struggled with high costs in recent years.

Next year, maybe not.

“This marks the second year in a row that the B premium rate has risen by nearly 6%,” Mark Miller, a retirement expert and author of “Retirement Reboot,” told Yahoo Finance.

“A higher dollar increase will squeeze the Social Security COLA for seniors,” he said. “The squeeze will be especially painful for people with low incomes.”

For example, Miller said, someone with a $1,200 monthly benefit will see their COLA reduced to 1.6% if the Medicare supplement is included.

In addition, the Medicare Part A deductible that beneficiaries pay if they are admitted to the hospital will be $1,676 in 2025, an increase of $44 from $1,632 in 2024. The cost of paying for hospital expenses and nursing skills will also increase by 2.7 percent.

Not everyone will feel the pinch. Under Social Security’s “hold harmless” rules, a person’s Part B supplement cannot be greater than their COLA. People who earn less than $450 a month in Social Security benefits will no longer be billed for the Part B supplement, according to Phil Moeller, a Medicare expert and author of the book, “Get Your Medicare Advantage.”

Generally, people receiving Social Security benefits are notified by mail in early December of their new benefit amount. Most beneficiaries can also check their COLA online through their Social Security account at ssa.gov/myaccount/.

Read more: How to find your 2025 Social Security COLA increase

Since 2007, part B of the monthly payment is based on income. About 8% of Medicare beneficiaries earn too much to meet the standard Part B and Part D premiums and must pay additional amounts, known as Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA). Information can be found on the CMS fact sheet.

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