Plain-language guides

Guides

Each guide walks through a single Medicare decision in plain language, with the year and source next to every number. Nothing here is for sale, and none of it is advice for your own situation. For shorter, dated answers to one question at a time, see the posts.

15 guides, grouped by what you're trying to work out.

Start with the basics

What Medicare is, when you sign up, and the mistakes that cost the most.

• Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D, explained simply

  The whole alphabet in one read: Part A is hospital, Part B is doctors, Part C is Medicare Advantage, and Part D is drugs, with the real 2026 numbers for each. Start here if Medicare is new to you.

• When do I actually sign up for Medicare?

  The 7-month window around your 65th birthday, the first-of-the-month quirk, and what missing it costs, explained without any pressure to hurry.

• Still working at 65? What you must do and what you can skip

  Whether you can wait on Part B depends on where the insurance comes from and how big the employer is. The 8-month window, the 20-employee rule, and the two forms you'll need.

• The 7 Medicare enrollment mistakes that cost real money

  The seven that cost the most, each with the 2026 penalty math and the simple fix. The Part B penalty is the one that follows you for life.

Choosing your coverage

The one real fork in Medicare, and the questions that come with it.

• Medicare Advantage vs Medigap: the real tradeoffs

  The five tradeoffs that actually separate the two roads: what you pay, which doctors you can see, the one-way door, how drugs work, and what the extras are worth.

• Medigap Plan G vs Plan N

  How these two standardized Medigap plans differ, so you can compare them yourself without anyone selling you the answer.

• Can you switch back? Medigap underwriting and guaranteed issue

  Why moving from Medicare Advantage back to a gap plan isn't automatic: the one-time 6 month window, the health questions after it, and the rights that skip them.

• I take no prescriptions. Do I still need Part D?

  Part D is voluntary, but the late penalty is permanent: the 2026 math, what counts as creditable coverage, and what people with no medications do.

Costs and the fall enrollment season

The 2026 numbers, the letter that starts decision season, and what's changing.

• 2026 Medicare costs, all on one page

  Every 2026 number in one table, sourced to CMS: the Part A and Part B deductibles, the $202.90 premium, the $2,100 drug cap, and where the income surcharge starts.

• How to read your ANOC letter

  Your plan mails its Annual Notice of Change so it arrives by September 30. Here's what to check in it before the Annual Enrollment Period opens.

• Your Annual Enrollment Period game plan

  The dates that matter from late September through January 1, and a calm order to work through them in.

• What is the WISeR program?

  A Medicare pilot testing prior approval in six states through 2031. Who it touches, what it can't touch, and the truth about whether a computer can deny your care.

Money, scams, and AI

The topics that sit next to Medicare in most retirements.

• Social Security at 62 vs 67 vs 70: the real math

  Claim at 62 and you get about 70% of your full benefit. Wait until 70 and it's 124%. The whole ladder in real dollars, plus the break-even math and what it can't decide for you.

• Is that 'Medicare' call a scam? The 10-second rule

  Medicare doesn't call out of the blue to sell you something or to verify your number. One rule settles any call like that, and there's a clear path back if one already got through.

• How to use AI to make sense of a Medicare letter

  A privacy-first routine for having a free chatbot translate a confusing letter: what to cover up before you type, the prompt to use, and where to check every answer it gives you.

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