It is true that ACA provides more benefits to pre-65 people than Medicare to the 65+ crowd. I mean people who get ACA subsidy, else it's not inexpensive at all.
Hence, a lot of people got a sticker shock when they crossed the age threshold, transitioned from ACA to Medicare, and found out they had to pay more. But if you don't get ACA subsidy, you will love Medicare.
But the person I was speaking of didn't get an ACA subsidy and didn't pay into Medicare to qualify for free part A, so in addition to all the other premiums that most of us have to pay, this person also has to pay about $500/mo for Part A. This person was on Medicaid under the ACA so wasn't paying anything at all, and is now faced with $1000+ premiums for parts A, B, D, Supplemental, and then there are out of pocket costs on top of that. So in this case, we're talking about a much bigger sticker shock than the ACA marketplace plan to Medicare (with free part A). Basically unaffordable yet can't qualify for traditional Medicaid or SS benefits.
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