Medicare’s Part B late-enrollment penalty lasts as long as a person keeps Part B. It is not a one-year fine or a charge that fades after a few years. The extra amount stays on the monthly premium, and in 2026 that premium is $202.90 for most people.
The penalty is 10% of the standard premium for every full 12 months a person could have signed up and did not. Someone who waited two years, for example, pays 20% more every month, for as long as the coverage lasts.
How the penalty is figured
Medicare.gov says the extra charge is 10% for each full 12-month period a person could have signed up for Part B but did not. The same page says these penalties are usually charged for as long as the person has that type of coverage. The federal rule behind it, 42 CFR 408.22, says the standard premium is increased by 10 percent for each full twelve months.
Medicare.gov works the numbers for 2026. A person who went 24 months without Part B owes a 20% penalty, which is $40.58 on top of the $202.90 premium. That brings the monthly charge to $243.50.
The word “full” matters. The penalty counts whole 12-month blocks, so a person who was late by 11 months owes no penalty under the rule, while someone late by 13 months owes the 10% for one block. Medicare.gov also says people may pay a higher Part B premium based on income, which is a separate charge.
Anyone who pays Part B should look at the date it started and count back to the end of the initial enrollment period. If the gap is 12 full months or more, a penalty is being charged, and the amount sits inside the Part B premium. The next step is to check whether one of the exceptions further down applies, because those are the only ways it ends.
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Why it never expires
AARP’s guide to the penalty, updated in October 2023 by Medicare reporter Kimberly Lankford, says it lasts as long as a person has Part B, whether through Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan. AARP contrasts that with the Part A penalty, which runs for a limited time.
Medicare.gov describes the Part A penalty the same way. A person who must buy Part A and delays pays 10% more, and the higher premium lasts twice as many years as the person went without signing up. Two years without coverage means four years of the higher premium. Part B has no such cap.
Part D drug coverage works the way Part B does. Medicare.gov says that penalty is 1% of the national base premium for each month without coverage, and it stays for as long as the person has drug coverage, even after a switch to another plan. The 2026 base premium is $38.99, so 14 months without coverage adds about $5.50 a month.
Who is charged and who is not
The question for anyone who recently turned 65, or who is still working past it, is whether the clock has started. The months that count are the ones after a person’s initial enrollment period closes. The federal rule at 42 CFR 408.24 leaves out months before age 65 and months covered by a State buy-in, along with some months of coverage tied to special enrollment periods.
Medicare.gov’s advice for avoiding the penalties is to sign up during the initial enrollment period, unless the person has similar coverage, such as through an employer. AARP adds that someone who goes without Part B for less than 12 full months and signs up in the next general enrollment period owes nothing extra.
That is why a person with job-based coverage often owes nothing. AARP says there is no penalty for people who sign up within eight months of losing health coverage from their own or a spouse’s current job. Retiree coverage and COBRA do not count, AARP says, so they do not protect against the penalty.
Ways the penalty can go away
There are a few ways the extra charge stops. AARP says people enrolled in Medicaid are not charged the penalty, and neither are people who qualify for a Medicare Savings Program, which pays the Part B premium for people with limited income and savings. Medicare.gov’s page on Medicare Savings Programs lists the 2026 limits: $1,350 a month in income and $9,950 in savings for one person, and $1,824 and $14,910 for a couple, for QMB, the program with the lowest limits.
Special enrollment periods can also erase the problem. AARP lists them for people living abroad who sign up within two months of returning, and for natural disasters. AARP also says a person who has Medicare because of a disability, and then turns 65, gets the penalty clock reset.
Those are the exits. Outside them, the amount stays. Because the penalty is a percentage of the standard premium, the dollar cost of the same penalty rises whenever the premium rises.
Paying a Part B penalty and wondering if it can end?
A penalty that is charged for life costs most when nobody checks the count or the exceptions. A person who owes 20% at $202.90 pays $40.58 more every month, and a wrong count keeps that going.
The Medicare Money Bundle holds all 8 Medicare guides in one download, including Extra Help & Medicare Savings Programs: who qualifies, what each program pays, and how to apply. It also has Late-Penalty Fixes, which covers how to check the count, use the exceptions and challenge a wrong penalty, in 102 pages of large print.
Get the Part B late-penalty fixes and Medicare Savings Programs guide for $8 →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
