Your Medicare Premium Is Rising Twice as Fast as Your Social Security Check — Here's What to Do About It

<p><strong>What if the Medicare premium increases heading your way aren&#39;t just a number, they&#39;re a signal that the entire system is heading somewhere most retirees aren&#39;t prepared for?</strong></p><p>Phil Moeller has co-written a New York Times bestseller on Social Security, authored the definitive consumer guide to Medicare, and spent decades covering personal finance for US News, PBS NewsHour, and Money Magazine. He&#39;s also a Medicare enrollee with strong opinions about what&#39;s working, what isn&#39;t, and what you should do before your next open enrollment window.</p><p>In this episode, Professor Kotlikoff sits down with his longtime friend and co-author for a conversation that starts with the nuts and bolts of Medicare: Medigap, Part D strategy, Medicare Advantage trade-offs, the birthday rule — and ends somewhere bigger: a frank discussion of whether America&#39;s healthcare and retirement trajectory is fixable at all.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>What You&#39;ll Learn:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>[00:03:45]</strong> Why Phil chose traditional Medicare with Plan G Medigap — and why he still thinks it&#39;s right for people of means</li><li><strong>[00:05:42]</strong> The $1 million hospital bill story — how a $3,500 Medigap premium produced zero out-of-pocket cost</li><li><strong>[00:06:38]</strong> The $5-a-month Part D strategy — and when to stop caring about the deductible</li><li><strong>[00:09:48]</strong> Why the Part B premium is rising at roughly twice the Social Security cost-of-living rate</li><li><strong>[00:15:23]</strong> When Medicare Advantage makes sense — and where it breaks down when you need it most</li><li><strong>[00:18:23]</strong> The birthday rule most people have never heard of</li><li><strong>[00:19:39]</strong> What the One Big Beautiful Bill means for Medicaid in your state</li><li><strong>[00:27:45]</strong> The hidden $600-$700 billion annual subsidy inside Parts B and D — and who&#39;s really paying</li><li><strong>[00:35:32]</strong> How seniors went from the poorest to the wealthiest generation — and what that data looks like</li><li><strong>[00:44:51]</strong> What Phil Moeller would do as healthcare czar</li><li><strong>[00:59:10]</strong> Why 35 cents of every healthcare dollar goes to administration</li><li><strong>[01:00:42]</strong> The purple billionaire argument — why Larry thinks an independent candidate is the only path to real reform</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Featured Guest:</strong></p><p