Millions of Americans who had been facing a steep increase in the cost of their Medicare Part B premiums will be spared much of the hike thanks to a $7.4 billion loan from the U.S. Treasury.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Medicare Part B premiums on Tuesday.

The part B premium for about 70% of beneficiaries will remain unchanged at $104.90 a month for 2016. The premium for most of the remaining 30%, not protected from an increase, will be $121.80, up 16%.

Without the loan, those recipients would have faced an increase of 52%, to $159.30 a month for most. The deal was included in the federal budget measure signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.

The annual deductible for all Part B beneficiaries will rise to $166 for 2016, from $147 this year.

Medicare Part B covers outpatient services such as doctor’s appointments and tests. By law, Medicare B premiums must cover 25% of the cost of running the program and provide for adequate trust fund reserves. To accomplish that, premiums would have needed to rise to $159.30 for most of the 30% of beneficiaries not protected under the so-called hold harmless provision of the Social Security Act, according to an analysis by the Medicare Trustees. The seven in 10 beneficiaries protected under hold harmless faced no premium increase from this year to next, since there will be no cost-of-living increase to Social Security benefits in 2016.

The unprotected group of roughly 15 million includes Medicare beneficiaries who have not yet claimed Social Security, higher-income beneficiaries, those new to the Medicare program, and the roughly 9 million beneficiaries who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare, whose premiums are paid by the government and thus wouldn’t have owed the increase out of their own pockets.

The projected jump in part B premiums had sparked an outcry, and Congress included in the federal budget a provision to maintain Medicare Part B premiums “consistent with actuarially fair rates.”

Beneficiaries not protected under hold harmless will pay a $3 monthly surcharge to repay the Treasury loan, which is included in the $121.80 total. More affluent beneficiaries who file an individual tax return with income greater than $85,000 and less than or equal to $107,000 will pay $170.50 monthly for part B in 2016. (Click here for the full schedule of Part B premiums for higher-income individuals and couples.)

If there is a cost-of-living increase to Social Security payments for 2017, all Medicare recipients will face the $3 monthly surcharge starting that year.

While easing the near-term budgets of millions of retirees, this fix doesn’t shore up Medicare’s finances for the long term, experts cautioned. Indeed, the expenditures for Medicare Part B and Part D are projected to exceed premium and other dedicated revenues by a whopping $24.8 trillion (yes, that’s a “t”) over the next 75 years, according to the Medicare Trustees’ report this summer.

What does this all mean? Most likely, permanent changes to the program in the future, experts predict.

As it stands, the current fix is just a redistribution of costs, said Anthony Webb, senior research economist with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: “I’d like to know who wins and who loses.”

Policy makers have discussed raising the Medicare eligibility age and pegging the price of more services to a beneficiary’s income, a practice known as “means testing.” Many also foresee eventual changes to the most comprehensive Medigap supplement plans, Parts C and F, which cover the Part B deductible. Some proposals that have been floated include curtailing their benefits or adding a tax for beneficiaries who choose them.