Let me see if I can explain it and what I actually said.
By law, the Inflation REduction Act, the BASE premiums can only go up 6% -
CMS.gov New RElease - Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Programs to Remain Stable as...
Now that is the BASE premium and a base premium is just that a base onto which other amounts are added depending on what's in the plan. what is in a premium? The actual "meat" of the policy. The actual "meat" of the policy is what makes it a benefit or a detriment based on ones needs.
That's what I am cautioning against - DON"T just look at the premium - look at the meat of the policy - what's covered, for how much, what tier, what deductible. Those are the things that can be designed and sanctioned by CMS. to meet the base premium.
Things like this will reduce the cost of the plan to a beneficiary but it may also take away some of their needs too:
Or the plan may have just disappeared altogether.
So what everybody should do is review their current plan in detail based on ones needs when they get their EOC (explanation of change).
Then when the new plans come out for your area, beginning soon, compare your needs to the other plans to see if you would come out better with another plan.
When the government ask insurers to pick up more, they do but it is then the cost is just passed along to the beneficiaries. Fact of Life like everything else, low man on the totem pole pays.
This cautionary review shouldn't just be for free standing drug plan. As you may or may not know, the majority of Medicare Advantage plans have an included Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. So review the one that you have - free standing Prescription Drug Plans or a Medicare Advantage plan.
https://community.aarp.org/t5/Medicare-Insurance/PLEASE-REVIEW-YOUR-MEDICARE-COVERAGE-FOR-2025/td-p/...
To buy any insurance product, you have to know your needs, your pocketbook and then you analysize the details of the policy based on those factors. They may throw in some "free' (HA_HA) stuff but that's just fluff. And some MA plans are reducing that fluff, whatever it may be.
Now would I ever tell you that I don't believe the government? Not unless I can prove it without a shadow of a doubt. Do I have doubt ? Well . . . . .