Medical Coverage
What is Medicare Part B?
Medicare Part B is the other half of Original Medicare. This plan will help you pay for medical services and a variety of mental health services. It may also help you cover the cost of some limited prescription drug medications.
How Much Does Part B Cost?
Part B premiums
| Part B costs: | What you pay in 2025: |
|---|---|
| Premium | $185 each month (or higher depending on your income). The amount can change each year. You’ll pay the premium each month, even if you don’t get any Part B-covered services. You might pay a monthly penalty if you don’t sign up for Part B when you’re first eligible for Medicare (usually when you turn 65). You’ll pay the penalty for as long as you have Part B. The penalty goes up the longer you wait to sign up. Find out how the Part B penalty works and how to avoid it. |
| Deductible | $257 before Original Medicare starts to pay. You pay this deductible once each year. |
You’ll pay the higher premium if your modified adjusted gross income, as reported on your IRS tax return from 2 years ago, is more than:
- $106,000 in 2025, if you file an individual tax return or are married and file separately
- $212,000 in 2025, if you are married and file a joint tax return
Social Security will tell you if you have to pay a higher premium because of your income. If you’ve had a life-changing event that reduced your household income, you can ask Social Security to lower the additional amount you’ll pay.
Find out if you’ll pay a higher Part B premium in 2025:
| If your yearly income in 2023 (for what you pay in 2025) was | You pay each month (in 2025) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| File individual tax return | File joint tax return | File married & separate tax return | |
| $106,000 or less | $212,000 or less | $106,000 or less | $185.00 |
| above $106,000 up to $133,000 | above $212,000 up to $266,000 | Not applicable | $259.00 |
| above $133,000 up to $167,000 | above $266,000 up to $334,000 | Not applicable | $370.00 |
| above $167,000 up to $200,000 | above $334,000 up to $400,000 | Not applicable | $480.90 |
| above $200,000 and less than $500,000 | above $400,000 and less than $750,000 | above $106,000 and less than $394,000 | $591.90 |
| $500,000 or above | $750,000 or above | $394,000 or above | $628.90 |
What does Medicare Part B cover?
Medicare Part B covers two types of services:
1. Medically necessary services: Services or supplies that are needed to diagnose or treat your medical condition and that meet accepted standards of medical practice.
2. Preventive services: Health care to prevent illness (like the flu) or detect it at an early stage, when treatment is most likely to work best.
You pay nothing for most preventive services if you get the services from a health care provider who accepts assignment.
Medicare Part B covers medically necessary services and preventive services that include, but are not limited to:
- Clinical research
- Ambulance services
- Durable medical equipment (DME)
- Inpatient and outpatient care
- Partial hospitalization
- Limited outpatient prescription drugs and vaccinations
- Depression screenings
- Cardiovascular disease screenings
Medical Coverage
What Preventive Services are covered in Medicare Part B?
Remember, you pay nothing for most preventive services if you get the services from a health care provider who accepts assignment.
Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers:
Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening
Alcohol misuse screenings & counseling
Bone mass measurements (bone density)
Cardiovascular disease screenings
Cardiovascular disease (behavioral therapy)
Cervical & vaginal cancer screening
Colorectal cancer screenings
Multi-target stool DNA tests
Screening barium enemas
Screening colonoscopies
Screening fecal occult blood tests
Screening flexible sigmoidoscopies
Depression screenings
Diabetes screenings
Diabetes self-management training
Flu shots
Glaucoma tests
Hepatitis B shots
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection screening
Hepatitis C screening test
HIV screening
Lung cancer screening
Mammograms (screening)
Nutrition therapy services
Obesity screenings & counseling
One-time “Welcome to Medicare” preventive visit
Pneumococcal shots
Prostate cancer screenings