Our clients ask:

“Do I need to be worried about the future of Medicare?” “Is Medicare in jeopardy with the current presidential administration?”

Our answer:

With the rapid-fire changes coming out of the Trump administration since January, many of our clients are worried.

"Will Medicare still be there in a year... or even six months from now?" "Is Medicare Advantage going to take over?" "Should I make changes to my retirement plans and get Medicare now, rather than wait?"

Here's our biggest point — There's no need to panic or make changes to your current, well designed plans.

SOME HISTORY

The Medicare program is a behemoth and cannot be easily changed. Even small changes, which would be more likely to occur, will take an act of Congress and then years to implement.

The last time the Medicare program had a major change was around 2004 with the introduction of Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D drug plans.

Think about all the widely different administrations that have been in office since then... Bush, Obama, Trump1, Biden and now Trump2. Yet, despite these vastly different administrations, Medicare has changed only peripherally.

The last peripheral change was in 2022 with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which capped the cost of covered insulins at $35 and added a $2,000 out-of-pocket spending limit for copays of covered medications under Part D plans. Yet, even these relatively smaller changes took three years to take effect.

Finally, as a last bit of peace of mind, blowing up the Medicare program which provides health coverage for 68 million people in this country would literally GUARANTEE that MILLIONS of Americans would be on the White House's doorstep the next day screaming at the top of their lungs.

It's just not going to happen. Period.