Medicare Part B helps you pay for medical services. These are services like doctor visits, tests, outpatient hospital services and other like services. Part B is voluntary, which means you can choose to join it. If you choose Part B, you pay a monthly fee, or “premium,” of $185 in 2025 per month (subject to change for 2026). (This fee might be higher, based on your income.)
If you do not sign up for Part B when you are first able to join Medicare, you may pay a higher monthly fee if you choose to join later.
How much do I pay for care I receive under Part B?
- You must first pay a deductible, or a yearly fee for services, before your plan pays for any costs under Part B.
- After you pay your deductible, Medicare pays up to 80 percent of Medicare-approved charges for most covered services. You pay the remaining costs — typically 20 percent of the total.
- Medicare Part B covers many preventive health care services at no cost to you, like annual exams, screenings and certain vaccines.
- Sometimes you may pay more than 20 percent. This can happen if your doctor does not accept “assignment”—the Medicare-approved rate for services. If a doctor does not accept assignment, you must pay your doctor what Medicare does not cover.
Medicare Part A and Part B do not cover everything. There are many services that you will need to pay for in full.
To learn more about what Medicare covers and does not cover, please call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227). TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048 24 hours a day/seven days a week, or see the “Medicare & You” handbook at Medicare.gov.
