The impact of the "Big Beautiful Bill" is starting to surface. This week insurance companies are sending out the "Annual Notice of Change" documents to people who have a separate part D plan. Most often the policy holder has Original Medicare, meaning the insurance that was created in 1965. You might get sticker shock when you open the letter.
I've said this in the past, but it is worth repeating. The passage of Medicare in 1965 was not popular with capitalists. They believe any type of insurance coverage should only be available from private insurance companies even though health insurance typically is a product that is "inelastic demand", it is not the purview of a government agency. However, before 1965, most health insurance companies wouldn't sell policies to "old people", especially if they had preexisting conditions. Someone over 65 who doesn't have preexisting conditions is as rare as a snow storm in July (in the USA).
For the last 60 years, conservatives have tried every way possible to "kill" Medicare. They are winning. The bill passed in July gives MORE money to Medicare Advantage plans because they want to push more seniors to use MA which is "private insurance" and thereby dismantle Original Medicare. To pay for this, the bill reduced funding to part D insurance plans by 40%.
Obviously, part D insurance is also sold by private insurance companies. That also was setup by conservatives in 2003 because they did not want to extend any part of the federal government Medicare insurance, but constituents lobbied hard for drug insurance to be added to Medicare so they "contracted part D out" to private insurance companies. These companies are in the business of making money. One way to do is to increase insurance premiums. In 2026, many part D companies are increasing the part D insurance premiums by $50/mo.
Ask your congressional representative if they voted "yes" for the bill passed in July 2025 that causes this to happen. If they did, are they really representing you?
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