Medicare Part B premiums rose to $202.90 a month in 2026, a nearly 10% increase, while roughly 25% of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries used telehealth that year even as an estimated 39% of seniors over 70 lack the digital skills to access it independently. CMS launched a new Medicare App Library in April 2026, building on a base where 8 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older already used a health app or website to manage their care in the prior year.
Senior Healthcare in America 2026 – Introduction
Senior healthcare in the US sits at the intersection of two forces pulling in opposite directions: rising costs that strain fixed retirement incomes, and a rapid, often uneven push toward digital and remote care delivery. Medicare remains the backbone of coverage for nearly all older Americans, but 2026’s premium and deductible increases landed squarely on beneficiaries already managing multiple chronic conditions, while the broader healthcare system’s embrace of telehealth and digital health tools has created a genuinely new category of access barrier — one measured in digital literacy and broadband availability rather than insurance coverage or geography alone.
That tension defines much of what’s notable about senior healthcare in 2026. CMS has actively expanded digital health infrastructure for Medicare beneficiaries, from extended telehealth coverage flexibilities through new vetted health app libraries, reflecting genuine demand: the large majority of seniors already use some form of health technology. But adoption remains deeply uneven, with older and more rural seniors facing documented gaps in both the technology access and the digital confidence needed to use these tools independently. This report breaks down what Medicare actually costs seniors in 2026, how telehealth and digital health technology have been adopted, and where access barriers persist despite near-universal insurance coverage.
Interesting Facts about Senior Healthcare Statistics in the US
| Category | Figure |
|---|---|
| 2026 Medicare Part B monthly premium | $202.90 (up $17.90, ~10%) |
| 2026 Medicare Part B annual deductible | $283 (up $26) |
| 2026 Medicare Part D out-of-pocket cap | $2,100 (up from $2,000) |
| 2026 Medicare Advantage out-of-pocket max (in-network) | $9,250 |
| Medicare FFS beneficiaries using telehealth (2024) | ~25% |
| Seniors 70+ lacking digital skills for independent telehealth access | ~39% |
| Medicare beneficiaries 65+ who used a health app/website (2025) | 8 in 10 (80%) |
| Homebound seniors needing help connecting to telehealth | 82% |
| Medicare App Library launch date | April 2026 |
The gap between senior healthcare costs and senior healthcare access defines much of 2026’s story. Medicare’s Part B premium crossed $200 a month for the first time this year, a roughly 10% single-year jump that CMS attributed to rising projected healthcare prices and growing service demand — a genuinely significant hit for beneficiaries on fixed Social Security incomes, since the increase can consume a meaningful share of any annual cost-of-living adjustment. At the same time, CMS has pushed harder than ever to expand digital health access, extending home-based telehealth flexibilities through the end of 2027 and launching an entirely new vetted health app library in April 2026.
Yet uptake of these digital tools remains sharply divided by age and circumstance within the senior population itself. While telehealth use among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries held steady at roughly 25% in 2024, a separate, more granular study found that 39% of seniors over 70 lack the digital skills needed to access telehealth independently, and a striking 82% of homebound seniors — arguably the population that stands to benefit most from remote care — need direct help just to connect to a virtual visit in the first place. That combination of strong aggregate adoption alongside persistent, concentrated gaps among the oldest and most vulnerable seniors is the central tension running through senior healthcare access in 2026.
Medicare Costs for Seniors in 2026
2026 MEDICARE COST INCREASES VS. 2025
PART B PREMIUM ████████████████████████████████████████ $202.90 (+$17.90)
PART B DEDUCTIBLE ████████████████████████████████████████ $283 (+$26)
PART D OOP CAP ████████████████████████████████████████ $2,100 (+$100)
| Cost Item | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Part B monthly premium | $185.00 | $202.90 |
| Part B annual deductible | $257 | $283 |
| Part D annual out-of-pocket cap | $2,000 | $2,100 |
| Part D maximum deductible | — | $615 |
| Medicare Advantage out-of-pocket max (in-network) | — | $9,250 |
| Medicare Advantage out-of-pocket max (combined) | — | $13,900 |
| Share of beneficiaries paying income-related surcharges (IRMAA) | — | ~8% |
Data Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Medicare’s 2026 cost increases crossed a symbolic threshold that drew considerable attention: the standard Part B premium rose to $202.90 a month, up $17.90 from 2025’s $185.00, marking the first time the premium has exceeded $200 and representing an increase of nearly 10% in a single year. The annual Part B deductible climbed alongside it, rising $26 to $283, meaning beneficiaries face higher costs before Medicare coverage even begins paying its share of outpatient services like doctor visits, outpatient surgery, and durable medical equipment.
Prescription drug costs under Part D also moved in 2026, though in a more beneficiary-favorable direction in one respect: the annual out-of-pocket spending cap, a relatively new protection introduced under recent legislation, rose modestly to $2,100, while the maximum allowable deductible reached $615 — still a meaningful improvement over the previously open-ended prescription drug cost exposure many seniors faced before the cap existed. For seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage rather than Original Medicare, plans must cap total in-network out-of-pocket spending at $9,250, rising to $13,900 when combined in- and out-of-network spending is counted, a protection Original Medicare still does not offer on its own. Roughly 8% of Medicare beneficiaries, generally higher-income retirees, also pay additional income-related monthly adjustment surcharges on top of these standard premiums. Lower-income seniors who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid face a different cost picture entirely, since Medicaid can cover many of these out-of-pocket gaps directly — see our US Welfare Statistics by Race report for more on how Medicaid enrollment and spending break down nationally.
Healthcare Access Barriers for Seniors in 2026
BARRIERS TO HEALTHCARE ACCESS AMONG US SENIORS
PRIMARY CARE POSITION FILL TIME (DAYS) ████████████████████████ 125 days
SPECIALIST POSITION FILL TIME (DAYS) ███████████████████████████ 135 days
AMERICANS IN MENTAL HEALTH SHORTAGE AREAS ████████████████████████████████ 122 million
| Access Barrier | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average time to fill a primary care physician position | 125 days |
| Average time to fill a specialist position | 135 days |
| Americans living in designated mental health shortage areas | 122 million |
| Medicare bone density screening payment rate cut | 70% reduction, linked to 2.3 million fewer women screened |
| Decline in osteoporosis diagnoses among older women (5-year period) | 18% |
Data Source: HRSA State of US Health Care Workforce, BST Quarterly, theglobalstatistics.com osteoporosis research
Beyond cost, a growing physician shortage increasingly shapes how quickly seniors can actually access care once they seek it. Primary care physician positions now take an average of 125 days to fill, while specialist positions take even longer at 135 days, delays that fall hardest on older patients managing multiple chronic conditions who often need more frequent specialist follow-up than younger patients. More broadly, an estimated 122 million Americans now live in areas formally designated as mental health professional shortage areas, a gap with particular consequences for older adults given the documented rise in late-life depression and anxiety that often goes undiagnosed and untreated absent accessible mental health providers.
Reimbursement policy changes have also directly shaped access to preventive screening for seniors in recent years: a 70% cut in Medicare payment rates for bone density screening has been linked to roughly 2.3 million fewer women receiving the test, contributing to an 18% decline in osteoporosis diagnoses among older women over a recent five-year period — a clear illustration of how a single reimbursement policy change can ripple into measurably worse preventive care outcomes for a specific senior health condition. For more on how this screening decline has affected fracture risk and treatment gaps nationally, see our Osteoporosis Statistics in US report.
Telehealth Use Among Seniors in 2026
TELEHEALTH USE AMONG OLDER AMERICANS
MEDICARE FFS BENEFICIARIES, 2024 ████████████ ~25%
OLDER ADULTS, PAST 12 MONTHS (STUDY RANGE) ████████████████ 31.4%-46.1%
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Medicare fee-for-service telehealth use (2024) | ~25%, similar to 2023 |
| Older adults reporting telehealth use (past 12 months, broader survey) | 31.4%-46.1% (varies by study methodology) |
| Reason for non-use: preference for in-person care | 45.7% |
| Reason for non-use: not offered telehealth by provider | 13.4% |
| Typical out-of-pocket cost without insurance | $40-$100 per visit |
| Medicare coinsurance after Part B deductible | 20% of approved amount |
| Original Medicare home telehealth coverage extended through | December 31, 2027 |
Data Source: CMS, American Journal of Public Health (2026), CaringSeniorService
Telehealth use among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries held roughly steady at 25% in 2024, essentially unchanged from 2023, suggesting adoption among the broadest Medicare population has plateaued following its pandemic-era surge rather than continuing to climb. A separate, more detailed academic study measuring telehealth use among older adults more broadly found a somewhat higher past-12-month usage rate of 31.4%, while other industry surveys using different methodologies have reported figures as high as 46.1% — a spread that reflects genuine differences in how “telehealth use” gets defined and measured across different data sources, rather than a single settled number.
Among seniors who don’t use telehealth, the reasons skew more toward preference than pure access barriers: 45.7% say they simply prefer in-person care, while 13.4% report they were never offered a telehealth option by their provider in the first place, pointing to gaps on the provider and health-system side as much as the patient side. Cost-wise, telehealth remains relatively accessible for insured seniors, with Medicare beneficiaries typically paying the standard 20% coinsurance on the approved amount after meeting their Part B deductible — similar to what they’d pay for an equivalent in-person visit — while seniors without insurance coverage for telehealth face out-of-pocket costs ranging from roughly $40 to $100 per visit. CMS has extended Original Medicare’s expanded home-based telehealth coverage, including the removal of prior geographic restrictions, through December 31, 2027, giving both patients and providers continued certainty about coverage rules heading into the back half of the decade.
Digital Health Technology Adoption in 2026
MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES 65+: DIGITAL HEALTH TOOL USAGE (2025)
USED A HEALTH APP OR WEBSITE (PAST YEAR) ████████████████████████████████████████ 80%
SAY THESE TOOLS MAKE CARE EASIER TO MANAGE ████████████████████████ >50%
WANT MORE CHRONIC-CONDITION MANAGEMENT APPS ████████████████████████████ ~2/3
ACTUALLY USED AN APP FOR CHRONIC CONDITION MGMT. ████████████ ~25%
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Medicare beneficiaries 65+ using a health app/website (2025) | 8 in 10 (80%) |
| Share who say these tools make care easier to manage | More than 50% |
| Share wanting more Medicare-supported chronic condition apps | ~2 in 3 (67%) |
| Share who have actually used an app for chronic condition management | ~1 in 4 (25%) |
| Medicare App Library launch | April 2026 |
Data Source: KFF Health Tracking Poll (September 2025), CMS
Digital health tool adoption among older Medicare beneficiaries has already reached a genuinely high baseline: a September 2025 KFF Health Tracking Poll found that 8 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older had used a healthcare app or website to manage some aspect of their care in the prior year, with more than half reporting these tools made managing their healthcare noticeably easier. That existing demand is precisely what CMS built on when it launched the Medicare App Library in April 2026, giving beneficiaries access to a curated selection of third-party health apps that have undergone independent review for privacy and security standards — a notable shift from the largely unregulated app marketplace seniors previously had to navigate on their own.
Despite that strong overall adoption, a meaningful gap remains between what seniors want from digital health tools and what they’re actually using them for: roughly two-thirds of older Medicare beneficiaries say it’s important for Medicare to expand the availability of apps specifically designed to help manage chronic conditions in coordination with a healthcare provider, yet only about one in four say they’ve actually used an app for that specific purpose in the past year. That gap suggests the next phase of Medicare’s digital health push will need to focus less on getting seniors onto digital platforms generally, something adoption data suggests has already largely succeeded, and more on connecting that existing comfort with technology to the specific, higher-value use case of ongoing chronic disease management.
The Digital Divide: Who Gets Left Behind in 2026
| Digital Access Gap | Share Affected |
|---|---|
| Adults 70+ lacking adequate digital skills | 39% |
| Medicare beneficiaries unprepared for video telehealth | 38% |
| Older adults lacking high-speed internet or a smartphone | 41% |
| Adults 50+ experiencing difficulties with online visits | 50.3% |
| Homebound seniors needing caregiver assistance for first telehealth visit | 82% |
| Rural patients filing a telehealth claim (Q1 2026) | 10.3%, vs. 18.6% urban |
Data Source: AARP, FAIR Health Quarterly Tracker
The digital divide among older Americans remains stark and multi-layered, spanning skills, equipment, and infrastructure simultaneously. An estimated 39% of seniors over 70 lack adequate digital skills to use telehealth independently, closely matched by the 38% of Medicare beneficiaries that AARP research found specifically unprepared for video-based telehealth visits, while 41% of older adults lack either high-speed internet access or a smartphone capable of supporting video calls in the first place — meaning digital literacy and basic technology access remain two distinct, compounding barriers rather than a single problem with a single fix.
That divide also runs along geographic lines: Q1 2026 claims data found that just 10.3% of rural patients filed a telehealth claim, compared with 18.6% of urban patients, reflecting persistent rural broadband gaps layered on top of the general digital literacy challenges facing older patients everywhere. The most acute version of this access gap shows up among homebound seniors, arguably the population telehealth was designed to serve best by eliminating the need for travel to a provider’s office, where 82% still need direct caregiver assistance just to successfully connect to their first virtual visit — a figure that underscores why health systems and policymakers increasingly describe digital literacy training, not just expanded broadband or app availability, as essential infrastructure for making telehealth’s promise real for the oldest and most vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries. For broader context on how healthcare workforce shortages compound these access challenges across the US, see our US Doctor & Surgeon Shortage Statistics report.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Medicare cost in 2026?
The standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026, up $17.90 from 2025 and exceeding $200 for the first time. The annual Part B deductible rose to $283, and the Part D prescription drug out-of-pocket cap increased to $2,100.
What percentage of seniors use telehealth?
Roughly 25% of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries used telehealth in 2024, similar to 2023. Broader surveys measuring telehealth use among older adults generally found figures ranging from about 31% to 46%, depending on survey methodology.
Why don’t more seniors use telehealth?
The most common reason, cited by 45.7% of non-users, is a preference for in-person care. Another 13.4% report they were never offered a telehealth option by their healthcare provider. Digital literacy and technology access gaps also remain significant, affecting an estimated 39% of seniors over 70.
What is the Medicare App Library?
Launched by CMS in April 2026, the Medicare App Library gives beneficiaries access to a curated selection of third-party health apps that have undergone independent review for privacy and security standards, building on the 80% of Medicare beneficiaries 65+ who already used some health app or website in the prior year.
How many seniors struggle with digital healthcare access?
An estimated 39% of seniors over 70 lack adequate digital skills for independent telehealth access, 41% lack high-speed internet or a smartphone, and 82% of homebound seniors need direct help just to connect to their first virtual visit.
How much does a telehealth visit cost for seniors?
For Medicare beneficiaries, a telehealth visit typically costs the standard 20% coinsurance of the Medicare-approved amount after the Part B deductible is met, similar to an in-person visit. Seniors without insurance coverage for telehealth face out-of-pocket costs ranging from $40 to $100 per visit.
Is Medicare’s expanded telehealth coverage permanent?
Original Medicare’s expanded home-based telehealth coverage, including the removal of prior geographic restrictions, has been extended through December 31, 2027, though it remains subject to further congressional action beyond that date.
Do rural seniors have less access to telehealth?
Yes. Q1 2026 claims data found just 10.3% of rural patients filed a telehealth claim, compared with 18.6% of urban patients, reflecting compounding broadband access and digital literacy gaps in rural areas.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
