Announcer:
4 Your Money is brought to you by NelsonCorp Wealth Management.
Brandy Auterson-Hurst:
It’s now time for 4 Your Money. We’re joined by James Nelson, Financial Planner at NelsonCorp Wealth Management. Welcome back, James.
James Nelson:
Thank you.
Brandy Auterson-Hurst:
So Medicare open enrollment started this month. What should people on Medicare be doing right now?
James Nelson:
Yeah, so open enrollment runs from October 15th to December 7th, and this is the primary time to change Medicare options. So during this window, you can change drug plans, you can switch from original Medicare to Medicare Advantage. So this is the time to make some moves if you’re looking to do that. And plans change each year. Premiums change, drugs change, doctors and networks change. So this is a good time to review all of that. I’ve got a chart here that also explains a little bit of change, and that’s the Part B premium that everybody pays. And this chart goes back to 2000. And in 2000, the Medicare Part B premium was $45.50. This year in 2026, the premium is $202.90. That’s up four and a half times in that 26-year time period. So that’s a substantial increase. That dashed white line there is showing if this kept pace with inflation, we’d be sitting at $88 instead of $202. So you can see pretty dramatic increase over the last several years, way outpacing the standard inflation numbers.
Brandy Auterson-Hurst:
So what’s the biggest mistake people make with open enrollment?
James Nelson:
So Brandy, I think one of the biggest mistakes is just doing nothing, allowing the plan to just kind of roll over, not review anything and just keep doing what you’re doing. Doctors, medication changes, those are all times to look at at least your drug plan. And then the other mistake would be just looking at the premium and focusing on that. There’s plenty of other considerations.
Brandy Auterson-Hurst:
All right. Some great tips there. Thanks, James.
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