What the 2027 COLA is projected to be
The Senior Citizens League, the advocacy group that publishes a monthly COLA forecast, now projects a 3.5 percent cost of living adjustment for 2027. That is down from the 3.6 percent it projected a month earlier, and it is built on the August 2026 CPI-W reading, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics published on September 11, 2026. Applied to the average retired worker benefit the group tracks, 3.5 percent would lift a monthly payment of $1,940.08 to $2,007.98, a raise of $67.90 a month. Treat that as a forecast and nothing more. The official 2027 COLA is set by the change in the CPI-W from the third quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026, so the September inflation data still has to land. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes September CPI on October 14, 2026, and the Social Security Administration announces the official 2027 COLA that same morning. For comparison, the 2026 COLA came in at 2.8 percent, worth about $56 a month for the average retiree.
The projected 2027 Medicare Part B premium
The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects a standard Part B premium of $209.50 a month for 2027, which is $6.60 above the $202.90 standard premium CMS set for 2026. Several independent forecasters think that figure runs low. They point to a pattern of Trustees projections landing under the final number, and they put 2027 somewhere between $216 and $219, an increase of $13.10 to $16.10 a month. Nothing is settled yet. CMS confirms the standard premium, the annual Part B deductible, and the income related IRMAA brackets in the fall; in the last two years the notice has come in November, and the confirmed figure is what actually gets deducted. For your comparison points, the 2026 standard premium is $202.90 and the 2026 annual Part B deductible is $283. In 2025 those same amounts were $185.00 and $257. If your income sits above the IRMAA thresholds, you will pay more than any standard figure quoted here.
The number that matters is your net January deposit
Here is the part most articles skip. For most people the Part B premium is deducted straight out of the Social Security payment, so the raise you actually feel is the net deposit in January, not the COLA percentage. Run the subtraction yourself. On the average benefit, a 3.5 percent COLA adds $67.90 a month. If the Part B premium lands at $209.50, it takes $6.60 of that and you keep roughly $61. If it lands at $219, you keep closer to $52. Same COLA, different check. A federal rule called hold harmless keeps a Part B increase from pushing your Social Security payment below the dollar amount you received the prior year. It protects most people, but not everyone. It does not cover you if you pay an IRMAA surcharge, if you are new to Medicare this year, if you have Part B but do not collect Social Security, or if a state Medicaid program pays your premium.
What you can actually control is the plan
You cannot vote on the COLA and you cannot negotiate the Part B premium. What you can change is the plan that sits on top of both. The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 to December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027. In that window you can switch Medicare Advantage plans, move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, or change your Part D drug plan. This matters because plan costs move every year in ways the headlines never mention. Your drug plan formulary can drop a medication you take. Your Advantage network can lose your cardiologist. Your premium, your copays, and your maximum out of pocket all reset. Goulson Insurance Services is an independent agency, so we compare across the carriers we represent instead of selling one. The review is free to you, because carriers pay our commission.
Know your January number before January
The COLA is decided in Washington and the Part B premium is decided at CMS. Your plan is decided by you, in a window that closes December 7. Goulson Insurance Services Inc. is an independent, family run agency in Los Angeles, licensed in 11 states and working in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. We will sit down with your current plan, your medication list, and your doctors, and tell you plainly whether staying put still makes sense for 2027. The review costs you nothing, because carriers pay our commission, not you.
Call Century City at (818) 472-5484 or Valley Village at (818) 731-5417 for a free 2027 plan review before December 7.
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