Here's What a Hospital Stay Might Cost Medicare Enrollees in 2026

Healthcare is one of those expenses you need to factor into your retirement budget. And certain costs are fairly easy to account for.

Your Medicare Part B premiums, for example, are one expense with a fixed cost (and if you're on Social Security, they'll be paid from your monthly benefits automatically). Similarly, if you've been taking the same medications for years, you might have a good sense of what they cost if your Part D drug plan hasn't changed.

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Planning for a hospital stay can be trickier -- namely, because it's hopefully something you're not doing often. But it's important to know what a hospital stay might cost you this year if you're a Medicare enrollee.

The cost of hospital care has gone up

Most Medicare enrollees do not pay a premium for Part A, which covers hospital care. But that doesn't mean the care you receive under Part A is free.

Each time you're admitted to the hospital, you're charged an inpatient deductible. In 2025, that deductible was $1,676, but it increased to $1,736 this year.

That deductible also may not cover your hospital stay in its entirely. Once your stay exceeds 60 days, you're responsible for daily coinsurance.

The daily coinsurance rate for days 60 through 90 of a hospital stay was $419 in 2025. This year, however, it increased to $434.

You should also know that if your hospital stay exceeds 90 days, you'll have to use your lifetime reserve days. The daily rate for that is $868 this year, up from $838 last year.

Medigap can help

If these hospital costs seem astronomical to you, well, it's because they are. But the good news is that if you buy Medigap coverage early on, you may get help covering these costs if you end up needing a hospital stay.

Medigap is supplemental insurance that's designed to cover some of the out-of-pocket expenses you incur as a Medicare enrollee. Medigap won't pay for services Medicare itself won't cover, like dental treatments or eye exams. But it will typically pay your inpatient hospital deductible and pick up the tab for coinsurance. Medigap can also cover the cost of lifetime reserve days.

The best time to buy Medigap is during your initial enrollment window, which lasts six months and starts the month you're 65 and enrolled in Medicare Part B. During that time, you can't be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, and insurers have to offer you their best plan rates.

If that initial Medigap enrollment window has already passed, don't give up on getting coverage. You may still be eligible for a reasonable rate, depending on the state of your health.

Even though most Medicare enrollees aren't charged a premium for Part A, a single hospital stay could be financially catastrophic. It's important to have a backup plan in the form of Medigap, and to know what costs you might be looking at this year so you can at least plan accordingly in the absence of a Medigap plan.

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