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It's Time to Shop Medicare, and This Year, It's Extra Important
Changes to prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage provider networks could raise costs for millions of older Americans, so open enrollment this fall means actually reading the mail.
On air: Hank Ledger, Dale Bearman and Brock Thunderson on The Pile-OnPublished
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0Watch it as it aired: Hank Ledger, Dale Bearman and Brock Thunderson on this story, from The Pile-On at 6:05 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The New York Times's, the jokes are ours.
At a glance
- First reported by The New York Times: “It’s Time to Shop Medicare, and This Year, It’s Extra Important”.
- Covered on BBN on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 6:05 AM ET on The Pile-On, by Hank Ledger, Dale Bearman and Brock Thunderson.
- Topics: Medicare.
- BBN covered this story before: Senate Democrats unveil new plans for strengthening Medicare (October 16).
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- The New York TimesIt’s Time to Shop Medicare, and This Year, It’s Extra Important
What BBN said about it
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorMedicare open enrollment is here, and the Times says big changes to prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage provider networks could cost people more, so read your mail this fall.
Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistRead your mail? I check my mail for a sign from the universe, and all I ever get is a catalog for gutters.
Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistBut I'll tell you who should be reading it, the insurers!
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThe insurers wrote it, Brock.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThey changed the networks, and as compensation you get homework. Graded by them. On your heart pills.
Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistLet me finish, because the doctor you love can just vanish from the network like a front that stalls off the coast and breaks your heart.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA doctor leaving the network. Right.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorAnd you find out by envelope, Hank.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorA seventy-year-old, a highlighter, and a table of drug tiers, doing the insurer's job, unpaid, with a deadline. It's an internship.
Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistCan I just say, I'd read every page if the envelope came with a seven-day outlook.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt does come with a deadline. Which is more than the doctor's leaving got.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorCompare the plans, check the doctors, check the drugs, and keep the highlighter. Next year's envelope is already in the mail room.
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Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson… · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Martin Wagner et al. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Ocdp · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
The story so far
- Medicare for All support drops when trade-offs are explained · Washington Examiner
- Axios-Ipsos poll: Medicare for All support surges · Axios
- Two-thirds want health care help, but not Medicare for All · New York Post
- Medicare Advantage plans shutting down, leaving millions without… · NPR
- Senate Democrats unveil new plans for strengthening Medicare · The Hill
- It's Time to Shop Medicare, and This Year, It's Extra Important (this story)
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Saturday, October 17, 2026 · the U.S. archive · all months
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