2027 Medicare Part B Premium: What Retirees in Idaho, Utah, Colorado & Arizona Should Budget For

The 2027 Medicare Part B premium has a number attached to it now. The Social Security and Medicare Trustees project it will rise to $209.50 a month. That’s up from $202.90 in 2026, an increase of about 3.3%. The official figure won’t arrive until CMS confirms it in November. Still, this projection gives retirees a real number to plan around instead of a guess.

The Latest 2027 Medicare Part B Premium Projections

The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report, released June 24, put the standard Part B premium at $209.50 for 2027. The Part B deductible is projected to climb too, from $283 to about $292. Neither figure is final. However, the Trustees Report has historically landed close to CMS’s eventual announcement, so it’s a reasonable planning baseline.

The Trustees point to a familiar mix of causes. These include higher healthcare utilization, rising medical costs, and a growing enrollee population. Outpatient and physician services billed under Part B keep growing too. None of that is new. What’s worth noting is the pace — this would be the second straight year of premium growth outpacing general inflation.

The COLA-Medicare Squeeze, Again

We flagged this wrinkle in our post on the 2027 Social Security COLA. Medicare Part B premiums come straight out of your Social Security check before you ever see it. A bigger COLA helps offset a bigger premium. But the two numbers move independently, and this year they’re both moving up.

The current COLA estimate sits near 3.5–3.6%. The Part B premium is projected to rise 3.3%. If both hold, most retirees should still see a modest net increase in their monthly check. The math gets tighter for anyone whose COLA estimate keeps drifting lower. That’s exactly what’s happened over the summer, as inflation data came in cooler than expected.

Where IRMAA Comes In

Higher-income retirees face a second layer: the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA. It adds a surcharge on top of the standard Part B premium. That surcharge kicks in once your modified adjusted gross income crosses a threshold. For 2027, that threshold is projected at roughly $112,000 for single filers and $224,000 for joint filers. It’s based on your 2025 tax return.

Current projections show five surcharge tiers. They start at an extra $83.80 a month for the lowest bracket. At the top bracket, the surcharge tops $500 a month, on top of the standard premium. For a married couple, that’s two premiums and two surcharges. It’s one of the more overlooked costs in retirement income planning. That’s because it’s based on income from two years earlier, not the year you’re paying it.

That two-year look-back is the detail worth acting on now. A large Roth conversion, a big capital gain, or an unusually high withdrawal year in 2025 can matter here. Any of those could push your premium into a higher bracket, even in an otherwise quiet income year. We covered the conversion side of this trade-off in our post on Roth conversion strategies. IRMAA exposure is one of the key variables that belongs in that decision. For the full breakdown of the 2026 and projected 2027 brackets, appeal rules, and ways to manage MAGI before it counts against you, see our IRMAA planning strategies guide.

What to Do Before the Official Announcement

A few moves make sense now, before CMS confirms the final 2027 numbers in November.

First, look back at your 2025 income with IRMAA brackets in mind. That matters especially if you did a Roth conversion or took a larger-than-usual distribution. Second, life-changing events count too. If you’ve retired, divorced, or lost a spouse since then, you may be able to appeal an IRMAA determination. You can file that appeal directly with the Social Security Administration, rather than simply accepting the surcharge. Third, revisit your withdrawal and conversion strategy for this year. Keep next year’s IRMAA threshold in mind, not just this year’s tax bracket. September’s Fed rate hike affects those reinvestment decisions too, so check current CD and bond rates first.

None of this happens in isolation. Between the COLA, the Part B premium, and IRMAA thresholds, retirement income planning has three moving parts instead of one. That’s especially true for anyone weighing a Roth conversion or a large one-time withdrawal. A decision made today can show up as a higher Medicare premium two years later. Our step-by-step Medicare guide covers the rest, from enrollment deadlines to a yearly coverage review.