Tools
Medicare Part B Penalty Calculator
Medicare charges a late enrollment penalty if you skip signing up for Part B when you're first eligible and you don't have coverage from a job you or your spouse still works at. The surcharge lands on your monthly premium, and for most people it never goes away.
Run our Medicare Part B penalty calculator below for a quick estimate, then read the notes to see whether the penalty even applies to you.
- 10% added for each full 12 months delayed
- The surcharge usually lasts as long as you have Part B
- Employer coverage from active work protects you
Estimate
Run the Medicare Part B penalty calculator
Tell us your situation
Only count months with no employer coverage tied to active work.
Use the current year's standard premium published by Medicare.
Your estimated penalty
- Full 12-month periods delayed
- 1
- Penalty rate
- 10%
- Added each month
- $18.50
- Added each year
- $222.00
- Your estimated total premium
- $203.50
This is an estimate only. Medicare figures the penalty as 10% of the standard premium for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B but didn't, and it generally sticks for as long as you carry Part B.
Context
When the penalty does and doesn't apply
You're protected while you carry group health coverage tied to current employment, yours or your spouse's. Retiree coverage, COBRA and marketplace plans don't count. Once that active employment ends, you get an eight-month Special Enrollment Period to take Part B without a penalty.
Drug coverage carries its own separate penalty. If you're weighing whether to delay, read up on Part D drug plans too, and check the full list of mistakes to avoid.
Columbus Senior Insurance is not a government agency
This tool gives an educational estimate and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare or any government agency. For an official ruling, contact Social Security.
No cost, no pressure
Think you may already owe a penalty?
Call us before you enroll. In some cases an equitable relief request or a Special Enrollment Period gets you out of it.