Your raise and your Medicare premium arrive in the same month
A 3.6% COLA on a $1,900 check is about $68. A projected $6.60 Part B increase takes roughly a tenth of it before the deposit lands.
this story****61.40
Net gain, example · $68 COLA minus $6.60 Part B
The Social Security COLA and the Medicare Part B premium both change in January, and the premium is deducted before the benefit is paid. On a $1,900 monthly benefit, a 3.6% COLA adds about $68 while the projected Part B increase takes $6.60, leaving roughly $61.40.
Two things change in January, and only one of them makes the news.
The COLA raises your benefit. The Medicare Part B premium is deducted from it. Both are announced in the fall, and the second one lands on the first before you ever see a deposit.
The subtraction, on a $1,900 benefit
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| COLA at 3.6% | +$68.40 |
| Projected Part B increase | −$6.60 |
| Net change | +$61.40 |
At this year’s projections the premium takes about a tenth of the raise. That is a mild year.
When it stops being mild
Run 2026’s numbers instead. The Part B premium rose $17.90 that year. Against a 2.8% COLA on the same $1,900 benefit — about $53 — the premium consumed roughly a third of it.
The pattern holds generally: the COLA tracks CPI-W, while Part B tracks medical spending. When medical costs rise faster than general inflation, the premium takes a bigger bite. That is most years.
The protection, and its limit
Hold harmless stops a Part B increase from pushing your net Social Security benefit below what you received the previous year. It is real, and it matters in bad years.
It does not cover everyone — notably people paying IRMAA surcharges, people new to Medicare, and people whose premiums are paid by a state program. And it caps the loss at zero. It does not guarantee you come out ahead.
What to do with this
When the COLA is announced on October 14, do not budget the headline percentage. Wait for the CMS premium announcement in November, subtract it, and budget the difference. That number is your actual raise.
Questions people ask
Does the premium always eat the whole COLA?
No, but in years with a small COLA and a large premium increase it can come close. The hold harmless provision generally prevents the Part B increase from reducing your net benefit below the prior year.
What is hold harmless?
A protection that stops a Part B increase from cutting a Social Security benefit below what the recipient received the year before. It does not apply to everyone.