Meta Title: What Is MED on Your Paycheck? Medicare Tax (1.45%) Explained
Meta Description: MED is Medicare tax, 1.45% of all wages with no cap. See the 0.9% surtax for high earners and why it differs from Social Security.
Right below your Social Security line sits another one: “Medicare,” “Med,” or “Fed MED/EE,” taking 1.45% of your pay. It’s smaller than the Social Security bite, so most people ignore it. But Medicare tax has a few quirks that Social Security doesn’t, including one that surprises higher earners and one that quietly changes which of your wages get taxed. Here’s the plain-English rundown.
The short answer
The MED line is Medicare tax, part of FICA, and it’s 1.45% of your gross wages withheld from every paycheck to fund Medicare, the federal hospital insurance program for people 65 and older and certain disabled workers. Your employer matches your 1.45% with another 1.45%, for 2.9% total, though you only see your half. On your stub it might read Medicare, Med, Fed MED/EE, or FICA-Med. All the same tax.
Medicare and Social Security are the two halves of FICA
If you’ve read about the Social Security or OASDI line on your stub, Medicare is its partner. Together they make up FICA:
• Social Security (OASDI): 6.2%
• Medicare: 1.45%
Add them and you get the familiar 7.65% total that comes out of most paychecks. The full FICA breakdown covers both halves, but the short version is that Social Security is the retirement-and-disability piece and Medicare is the hospital-insurance piece. They travel together, but they don’t play by the same rules, which is where it gets interesting.
The big difference: Medicare has no wage cap
Here’s the quirk worth knowing. Social Security tax stops once your earnings pass the annual wage base, which is $184,500 in 2026. After that, no more Social Security comes out for the rest of the year.
Medicare has no such ceiling. Every dollar you earn is subject to the 1.45%, whether it’s your first $40,000 or your two-millionth. Someone earning $50,000 pays $725 in Medicare tax for the year; someone earning $500,000 pays $7,250, and it keeps going with no cap. That’s why higher earners feel Medicare more than they expect. Long after Social Security has switched off for the year, Medicare keeps right on going.
The Additional Medicare Tax on higher earners
There’s a second layer most people never hit, but it’s worth understanding if your income climbs. On top of the standard 1.45%, an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to wages above certain thresholds:
• $200,000 for single filers and head of household
• $250,000 for married filing jointly
• $125,000 for married filing separately
Above those lines, your Medicare rate effectively becomes 2.35% (1.45% plus 0.9%). Two details catch people off guard. First, your employer does not match the extra 0.9%; you pay all of it. Second, your employer starts withholding it once your year-to-date wages cross $200,000, no matter your filing status. So a high earner often sees their Medicare withholding jump partway through the year, which you can watch happen in your year-to-date totals. If your withholding doesn’t match your actual filing situation, it gets reconciled when you file.
Your Medicare wages might not match your income-tax wages
This one is subtle but useful, and it connects to how your deductions work. The wages your Medicare tax is figured on aren’t always the same as the wages your income tax is figured on.
Pre-tax health, dental, and vision insurance premiums lower your Medicare wages, so you pay a little less Medicare tax. But a traditional 401(k) contribution does not lower your Medicare wages, even though it lowers your income-tax wages. So you still pay the full 1.45% on money you put into your 401(k). If that distinction is fuzzy, the guide to pre-tax versus post-tax deductions lays out which deductions lower which taxes, and why your various “wages” figures don’t always match.
What if you’re self-employed?
No employer, no MED line on a stub, but you don’t escape the tax. Self-employed people pay both halves of Medicare, the full 2.9%, as part of self-employment tax, and the same 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies above the thresholds. The one break: you can deduct half of your self-employment tax on your return.
Where MED sits, and what it’s really doing
On your stub, the Medicare line lives in the deductions section right next to Social Security and your tax withholding. If those abbreviations blur together, a labeled walkthrough of a pay stub shows what each line is, and how Medicare and the rest carve your gross pay down to take-home.
One thing to keep in mind about what it funds: Medicare tax isn’t a personal savings account with your name on it. Your 1.45% pays for current Medicare benefits, and your future coverage depends on the program, not on a running total of what you put in. It’s insurance you pay into now and draw on later, not a balance you’re building.
Keeping it real
Medicare is the quiet 1.45% next to the bigger Social Security line, easy to overlook. But it’s the one that never stops, that costs high earners an extra 0.9% past a threshold, and that gets figured on a slightly different set of wages than your income tax. For most people it’s a small, steady deduction funding hospital coverage they’ll rely on someday. Knowing how it works, and that a mid-year jump on a big paycheck usually isn’t a mistake, means one less mystery on your stub.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fed MED/EE on my paycheck? It’s the employee portion of Medicare tax, 1.45% of your gross wages, withheld to fund Medicare. The “EE” means employee. Your employer pays a matching 1.45% that doesn’t show on your stub.
Why doesn’t Medicare tax stop like Social Security does? Because Medicare has no wage cap. Social Security tax ends once your wages hit the annual wage base ($184,500 in 2026), but Medicare’s 1.45% applies to every dollar you earn all year, with no ceiling.
What is the Additional Medicare Tax? A 0.9% surtax on wages above $200,000 (single), $250,000 (married filing jointly), or $125,000 (married filing separately), bringing the rate to 2.35% above the threshold. Your employer withholds it once your year-to-date wages pass $200,000 and does not match it.
Is Medicare tax the same as FICA? Not quite. Medicare is one part of FICA. FICA is Medicare (1.45%) plus Social Security (6.2%), for 7.65% total. When your stub says FICA-Med or Fed MED/EE, that’s the Medicare portion, not a separate extra tax.
The short version
The MED line is Medicare tax, the 1.45% of your gross pay that funds Medicare, matched by your employer for 2.9% total, and it’s the smaller half of FICA alongside Social Security. Its quirks are what matter: unlike Social Security, it has no wage cap, so it never stops; high earners pay an extra 0.9% above $200,000 or $250,000 that the employer doesn’t match; and pre-tax health insurance lowers your Medicare wages while a 401(k) doesn’t. Self-employed folks pay the full 2.9%. It’s a small, steady line for most people, funding hospital coverage they’ll use down the road.
This article is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Tax rates, wage bases, and thresholds change and vary by situation, so confirm current figures with the IRS or SSA and check your own circumstances with a qualified professional.
