In 2018, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 2 percent cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment but much or all of that gain may go toward Medicare Part B premiums. Most enrollees who did not have an increase over the past two years because in 2016 there was no COLA, and jin 2017 it was a very low 0.3 percent. This year, with the increase, recipients will see an increase for Part B grow from an average of $109 to $134. Tricia Neuman, the director of the Program on Medicare Policy for Kaiser Family Foundation, states that "For some, it (the Part B increase) will take up the full income from their Social Security cost-of-living adjustment."
RC 10's First Vice-President James Stolis explains, "if the 2018 COLA of 2.0% causes your Social Security benefit to increase more than the difference between what you paid in 2017 for your Medicare Part B Premium ($109) and the 2018 standard Medicare Part B Premium ($134), then you will pay the standard 2018 Medicare Part B Premium of $134. In other words, if your Social Security increases more than $25 from 2017 to 2018, then you will pay the full standard Medicare Part B Premium of $134."