Social Security’s 3.6% Raise Is About $75 a Month. Medicare May Take Back Part of It
There’s a rule meant to keep a Medicare premium increase from shrinking your Social Security check.
It has gaps, though, and whether you’re covered depends on your income and who pays your premium.
Here’s what the 2027 raise adds up to, and how much of it Medicare could take back.
Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Benefit amounts and Medicare premiums are subject to change.
Raise in Dollars
The 3.6% raise for 2027 is a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), a yearly increase tied to a government measure of consumer prices.
That’s up from the 2.8% raise for 2026.
The Social Security Administration estimates the average retired worker will see a raise of $75 a month, moving a check of about $2,095 to about $2,170.
The agency’s estimates run $117 more for a couple who both collect retirement benefits, $69 more for a widow or widower collecting alone and $59 more for disabled workers.
Your check will differ.
Take a $2,000 monthly benefit as an example: 3.6% of $2,000 is $72, so your check would rise to $2,072.
You’ll see the higher amount in the payments you receive beginning in January 2027.
Nearly 72 million Social Security beneficiaries get the raise, and about 7.3 million people who receive Supplemental Security Income get theirs sooner, starting with the payment on Dec. 31, 2026.
For them, the federal monthly payment standard rises from $994 to $1,029 for an individual and from $1,491 to $1,544 for a couple.
Medicare’s Part B Premium
Part B is the medical insurance side of Medicare, and it covers medically necessary services and preventive care.
The premium can come straight out of your Social Security check.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) set the standard premium at $202.90 a month in 2026.
Kiplinger reports that the Medicare trustees’ 2026 annual report projects a 2027 premium of $209.50, up $6.60.
The 2026 premium rose $17.90 over 2025, so the projected 2027 increase is smaller.
At $209.50, the premium would take about 9.7% of the average retired worker’s $2,170 check.
Over a full year, that premium comes to $2,514.
What You’d Keep
If the projection holds and your Part B premium comes out of your check, the average $75 raise shrinks by about $6.60.
You’d keep about $68.
Over a year, the projected $6.60 increase adds up to $79.20.
In 2026, a 2.8% raise on a $2,000 benefit came to $56.
The Part B premium rose $17.90, so you’d have kept $38.10.
What a Net Raise Means
Your net raise is the change in the amount that reaches your bank account, not the percentage the agency announces.
This illustration uses a $2,000 monthly benefit and the projected Part B premium.
In 2026, you’d receive $2,000 minus the $202.90 premium, or $1,797.10.
In 2027, the benefit would be $2,072 and the projected premium $209.50, which leaves $1,862.50.
That’s $65.40 more in your deposit, which is your net raise.
Over 12 months, that comes to about $785.
Hold Harmless Rule
A safeguard called the hold harmless rule keeps a Part B premium increase from lowering the dollar amount of your check.
When the dollar raise is smaller than the premium increase, the rule keeps your payment from falling.
The rule applies to people who receive, or are entitled to, Social Security benefits for November and December.
Their Part B premiums for December and January also have to come out of their monthly benefits.
The rule has gaps.
It doesn’t cover people who pay a higher-income surcharge or people whose premium a state Medicaid program pays.
By our math, 3.6% of any monthly benefit above roughly $183 is more than a $6.60 premium increase.
For the average retired worker, whose check is about $2,170, the raise would cover the projected increase with or without the rule.
Higher Premiums at Higher Incomes
If your income is above a set level, you pay a higher income-related Part B premium, and it can take back more of your raise.
Your income sets the tier.
In 2026, the surcharge starts above $109,000 for a single filer and $218,000 for a married couple filing jointly.
It’s generally based on your tax return from two years earlier.
The first surcharge tier, for a single filer with income up to $137,000, lifts the monthly Part B premium from $202.90 to $284.10.
That extra $81.20 a month adds up to about $974 a year.
These income-related amounts affect roughly 8% of people with Part B.
If you pay an income-related premium, the hold harmless rule doesn’t protect you, so the full premium increase can come out of your raise.
In the top tier, which starts at $500,000 for a single filer, the 2026 premium is $689.90 a month.
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Official 2027 Numbers
The Social Security Administration says you can see your 2027 Medicare premium amount in the Message Center of your my Social Security account starting in late November.
CMS announced the 2026 amounts on Nov. 14, 2025, listing the standard premium and the income-related amounts together.
Until CMS releases the 2027 figures, the $209.50 stays a projection.
The one-page COLA notice lists the new benefit amount and any deductions, and people who aren’t enrolled in paperless notices get it by mail during December.
If you don’t have a my Social Security account, you’d need to create an account and enroll in paperless notices by Nov. 18 to see the notice online.
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