How Much Are Medicare Deductibles?
The current Medicare deductible is $257 per year for Medicare Part B and $1,676 for Medicare Part A for each hospital benefit period.
Compare Medicare Plans in Your Area
Before your Medicare coverage starts, you need to pay a certain amount of money, called a deductible. The government sets deductibles for Parts A and B, but the deductibles for Medicare Advantage, Part D and Medigap depend on the plan you choose.
Medicare deductibles in 2025
Each part of Medicare has its own deductible.
You may have to pay just one deductible if you have bundled coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan. But if you have Original Medicare (Parts A and B) with a Part D (prescription drug) plan, you could pay up to three separate deductibles.
A Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy can help you pay for your Part A or B deductible, depending on your Medigap plan type.
What is a deductible?
A Medicare deductible is what you have to pay for health care before your coverage starts.
For example, if you spend three days in the hospital, you pay the first $1,676 of your bills, which is the Part A deductible for 2025. Medicare will then pay for the rest of your stay.
Medicare Part A deductible for 2025
Medicare Part A has a $1,676 deductible for 2025.
Medicare Part A covers hospital stays and skilled nursing facilities. You have to pay the deductible every time you go to the hospital after a 60-day period has ended, which starts a new Medicare benefit period.
If you leave the hospital and have to return within 60 days, you don't have to pay the deductible again. But if you return to the hospital after 60 days have passed, you start a new benefit period and have to pay another $1,676 deductible.
After meeting the Part A deductible, you don't pay anything in Medicare Part A costs until day 61 in the hospital, when you have a daily coinsurance amount of at least $419.
How does the Medicare Part A deductible work?
With Medicare Part A, you could pay several deductibles in a single year.
For example, if you leave the hospital on June 3 and come back on July 1, you won't have to pay another deductible. That's because you returned before 60 days passed, so you're in the same benefit period.
But if you returned on Aug. 20, you would pay another Part A deductible. That's because more than 60 days have passed and a new benefit period has started. Benefit periods also apply to skilled nursing care. But those benefit periods last 100 days instead of 60.
How much do you pay after meeting your Part A deductible?
After paying $1,676 for the Part A deductible, you won't pay anything for the first 60 days of care you get in the hospital. Longer hospital stays can cost several hundred dollars per day because you need to pay coinsurance.
Part A cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Deductible | $1,676 |
| Days 1-60 coinsurance | $0 |
| Days 61-90 coinsurance | $419 per day |
| Days 91-150 coinsurance | $838 per day |
| Days 151+ | You pay all costs |
After 60 days in the hospital, you have to pay $419 per day. Starting on day 91, you begin to use a bank of 60 days, called your lifetime reserve days. You can use these days only once during your lifetime. The cost per lifetime reserve day is $838 for 2025.
You can choose not to use your reserve days if you want to save them for the future. But if you don't use them, you have to pay the full cost of your hospital stay after 90 days.
The Medicare Part A deductible of $1,676 also applies to stays in skilled nursing facilities. The benefit period works in the same way, although it lasts 100 days instead of 60.
That means if you stay in a skilled nursing home twice during the same 100-day period, you pay the deductible only once.
Part A cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Deductible | $1,676 |
| Days 1-20 coinsurance | $0 |
| Days 21-100 coinsurance | $209.50 per day |
| Days 101+ | You pay all costs |
After meeting your deductible, Medicare Part A pays for most of your hospital stay. But it doesn't pay for everything. For instance, you still have to pay for your share of doctor services during your hospital stay. Part B covers the rest.
Medicare Part A also doesn’t cover a private room in a hospital or a skilled nursing facility unless your doctor decides you need it. And it will not pay for help with activities such as dressing, feeding, bathing or going to the bathroom.
Medicare Part B deductible for 2025
The Medicare Part B deductible is $257 for 2025.
You'll pay in full for the first $257 of your outpatient care before Medicare will start to pay. After you meet the deductible, you'll typically pay about 20% of the cost for doctor appointments, urgent care visits, tests and other outpatient care.
The Medicare Part B deductible lasts for the whole year, and a new deductible takes effect on Jan. 1.
How the Part B deductible works
You pay your Part B deductible just once per year. After you reach $257, Part B starts to cover about 80% of your medical bills, and you pay the remaining 20%.
But if you qualify for Medicare late in the calendar year, you could end up paying the Medicare Part B deductible more than once within a few months or even a couple weeks. For example, if you paid your Medicare Part B deductible on Dec. 29 and you go back to the doctor on Jan. 2, you would have to pay your deductible twice in a single week.
If your Medicare coverage begins late in the calendar year, you may want to delay nonurgent medical visits until the new year. That way, you can avoid paying the Medicare Part B deductible twice within a short window of time.
Do I always have to pay the Part B deductible?
Medicare Part B pays the full cost of some preventive and wellness care even if you haven't met your deductible yet.
Medicare offers a free "Welcome to Medicare" visit during your first 12 months after you enroll in Medicare Part B. The Welcome to Medicare visit is a preventive doctor visit.
It includes a review of your medical and social history and education and counseling about preventive services. You don't have to pay a deductible, but you might have to pay part of the cost if your doctor orders tests or you get a nonpreventive service.
Plus, Medicare includes a free yearly wellness visit after you’ve had Part B coverage for more than 12 months.
Like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Part B also covers recommended preventive services at no cost. This includes many screenings and vaccinations, such as your annual flu shot. To qualify for free preventive services, you have to see a doctor or medical office that accepts Medicare.
Medicare Advantage deductible for 2025
Some Medicare Advantage plans have deductibles.
That's because private companies sell and manage Medicare Advantage, also called Medicare Part C. Because the companies create their own plans, the deductibles depend on the plan you buy.
Many Medicare Advantage plans charge separate deductibles for medical and prescription drug coverage. In 2025, the average Medicare Advantage drug deductible is $306.
That means you have to reach your medical deductible before the plan starts paying for your health care and your drug deductible before you have coverage for your medications. But if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you don't have to pay the Part A or Part B deductible. You only need to meet your single Part C deductible.
For example, if you have a hospital stay with Medicare Advantage coverage, you don't have to pay the $1,676 Part A deductible or any of the Part A coinsurance amounts.
Instead, after meeting the Medicare Advantage plan's deductible, you'll pay the plan's daily copay amount for hospital care. Copay amounts depend on your plan details.
Other costs with a Medicare Advantage plan
Medicare Advantage plans charge their own monthly rates and copays for medical care.
In addition to any monthly rate for the Medicare Advantage plan, you also have to pay for Part B, which is $185 for 2025.
Medicare Part D deductible for 2025
The average Part D plan deductible is $487 for 2025.
By law, Medicare Part D plans cannot charge more than $590 for the 2025 deductible. About three-quarters of all drug plans charge the maximum amount, and roughly 13% of drug plans for 2025 do not have a deductible.
Like Medicare Part C, Medicare Part D comes from private insurance companies. The deductible will depend on the plan you buy.
Medigap deductible for 2025
Most Medigap plans don't have deductibles.
That's because Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans help you pay for the costs you're responsible for with Original Medicare (Parts A and B). That includes your Medicare Parts A and B deductibles.
Keep in mind, only three Medigap plans, Plans C, F and J, cover both the Part A and Part B deductibles. Companies stopped selling new Plan J policies in 2010, and you can get Plan C or F only if you became eligible for Medicare before 2020.
That means you can't get a Medigap plan that covers your Medicare Part B deductible if you qualified for Medicare after Jan. 1, 2020.
Medicare deductible coverage by Medigap plan
Medigap plan | Part A deductible coverage | Part B deductible coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Plan A | ||
| Plan B | ||
| Plan C | ||
| Plan D | ||
| Plan F |
When do Medigap plans have their own deductibles?
Only two Medicare Supplement plans, the high-deductible versions of Plans F and G, have deductibles. For 2025, you have to pay $2,870 of your medical costs before the plan will start paying toward your Part A and B bills.
Before your medical costs reach the Medigap deductible, you will still have coverage from Medicare Parts A and B. You pay the deductibles, coinsurance and copays for your medical care until those amounts hit $2,870. Then, your Medigap plan starts paying its share of your bills.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Medicare deductible?
For 2025, Medicare Part A has a $1,676 deductible for each time you stay at the hospital once 60 days have passed between stays. Part B has a yearly $257 deductible. The deductible for Part D and Medicare Advantage plans depends on the plan you buy.
Does everyone on Medicare have to pay a deductible?
Most people on Medicare have to pay a deductible. If you have just Parts A and B, you'll pay the deductibles set by the government. But if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you might have coverage for your Medicare deductibles, depending on the plan. Companies set their own deductibles for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans.
How do you check if you've met your Medicare deductible?
If you are enrolled in Original Medicare, Medicare will send you a Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) every three months. The notice lists all the services Medicare pays and tells you how much it will pay for a given service and whether you've met your deductibles.
If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, your insurance company can tell you what you've already paid and if you met your deductible.
Methodology and sources
All 2025 monthly rates, deductibles, coinsurance and copay amounts for Medicare Parts A and B are sourced from Medicare.gov. Information on Medicare Advantage and Part D plans came from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial Note: We are committed to providing accurate content that helps you make informed financial decisions. Our partners have not endorsed or commissioned this content.
