2019 Medicare Part B Deductible
For 2019, the Medicare Part B Deductible is $185 (Deductible) and $135.50 (Standard premium).
Effective 2019-01-01Source: 2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2018
| Item | 2018 | 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deductible | $183 | $185 | +$2 (+1.1%) |
| Standard premium | $134 | $135.50 | +$1.50 (+1.1%) |
Who it applies to
All Medicare Part B beneficiaries
What changed this year, and why
The annual Medicare Part B deductible is $185 for 2019. The standard monthly Part B premium is $135.50 for 2019.
Common questions
- What does the Part B deductible cover?
- The Medicare Part B deductible is the amount a beneficiary must pay out of pocket each year for covered Part B services before Medicare begins to pay its share. For 2019, the deductible is $185.
- Does the deductible change during 2019?
- No. The deductible is a single annual amount. The standard monthly Part B premium for 2019 is $135.50, but that is separate from the deductible.
What the Part B deductible applies to
The $185 annual deductible for 2019 applies whenever a beneficiary uses services that fall under Part B rather than Part A. That includes visits to doctors and other clinicians, care received in hospital outpatient departments without being admitted, selected home health visits, durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs or oxygen systems, and a range of other medical and health services that Part A does not touch. Each calendar year the beneficiary pays the first $185 out of pocket for those services before Part B begins to pay its share. Because the deductible resets every January, a person who uses both physician care and outpatient hospital services in the same year meets the deductible once and both types of service then count toward coinsurance. Services that are instead classified as inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility, or certain home health care under Part A are not subject to the Part B deductible at all; they have their own separate cost-sharing rules.
Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and certain other medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A.
2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)
Part A has its own separate deductible
Medicare Part A is the portion of Original Medicare that primarily covers inpatient care. It pays for hospital stays, skilled nursing facility care, and some home health care services. Because Part A covers a different set of services from Part B - which covers physician visits, outpatient hospital care, and durable medical equipment - it has its own separate deductible. In 2019 the annual Part B deductible is $185, and the standard monthly Part B premium is $135.50. Those Part B amounts apply to outpatient and physician services only. A beneficiary who is admitted to a hospital will instead be subject to the Part A inpatient hospital deductible, which is a separate charge. This means a person could owe both the Part A deductible and the Part B deductible in the same year if they receive both inpatient hospital care and outpatient or physician services during that period.
Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility, and some home health care services.
2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)
Why most people pay no Part A premium
Most Medicare beneficiaries do not have to pay a monthly premium for Part A hospital coverage. The document states that about 99 percent of Medicare beneficiaries qualify for premium-free Part A because they have at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment during their working years. A quarter represents a three-month period in which a worker earned enough wages to be credited under the Social Security system, so 40 quarters is the work-history threshold that the program uses to determine whether a person has paid sufficient Medicare taxes to receive Part A without a premium charge. People who have accumulated fewer than 40 quarters may still enroll in Part A voluntarily, but they must pay a monthly premium that is set higher than zero. This work-based eligibility rule is why the vast majority of enrollees face no Part A premium, while a small share of beneficiaries who did not work long enough must buy into the program at a cost.
About 99 percent of Medicare beneficiaries do not have a Part A premium since they have at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment.
2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)
The Part A deductible is per benefit period, not per year
The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible is not an annual cap; it resets each time a new benefit period begins. A benefit period starts when a beneficiary is admitted as an inpatient to a hospital or skilled nursing facility and ends only after the person has gone 60 consecutive days without any inpatient hospital or skilled nursing facility care. If the beneficiary is readmitted after that 60-day gap, a fresh benefit period opens and the deductible applies again. The deductible covers the beneficiary's share of costs for the first 60 days of Medicare-covered inpatient hospital care in a benefit period. Because the deductible is tied to benefit periods rather than the calendar year, a person who has multiple hospital admissions separated by at least 60 days of no inpatient care could pay the Part A deductible more than once in a single year. By contrast, the Part B deductible of $185 resets only once per calendar year regardless of how many times services are used.
The Part A inpatient hospital deductible covers beneficiaries’ share of costs for the first 60 days of Medicare-covered inpatient hospital care in a benefit period.
2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)
Married, living together, filing separately: the income surcharge jumps
In 2019, Medicare beneficiaries who are married and lived with their spouse at any time during the taxable year, but file a separate return, face a sharply steeper income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) than those who file jointly. The income thresholds for the surcharge are much lower for separate filers. Once a separate filer's income is greater than $85,000 and less than $415,000, the IRMAA adds $297.90 to the standard $135.50 Part B premium, producing a total monthly premium of $433.40. At incomes greater than or equal to $415,000, the surcharge rises to $325.00 and the total monthly premium reaches $460.50. Separate filers with income at or below $85,000 pay no adjustment and owe only the standard premium. Because these thresholds are so much lower than the brackets for joint filers, a married couple living together can trigger the surcharge on one spouse's separate return even when their combined household income would not have reached the threshold had they filed jointly. CMS describes this as the schedule for beneficiaries who are married and lived with their spouses at any time during the year but file separate tax returns from their spouses.
Beneficiaries who are married and lived with their spouses at any time during the year, but who file separate tax returns from their spouses: Income-related monthly adjustment amount Total monthly premium amount Less than or equal to $85,000 $0.00 $135.50 Greater than $85,000 and less than $415,000 $297.90 $433.40 Greater than or equal to $415,000 $325.00 $460.50
2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
2019 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (CMS)
- Deductible
The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $185 in 2019
The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $135.50 for 2019