Key Takeaways
- Mark Cuban wrote on X that traditional Medicare requires supplemental and drug coverage, and the math on a bad year backs him up.
- A retiree on Original Medicare with no supplement and $50,000 of Medicare-approved Part B care in 2026 owes $10,226.40 between the $283 deductible and 20% of the rest.
- Original Medicare has no yearly out-of-pocket limit, so a bigger bill or a second bad year costs more again.
- A Medigap policy can be bought without health questions only in the six months after Part B starts at 65 or older, and Medicare open enrollment, which ends Dec. 7, lets retirees switch to a Medicare Advantage plan with a yearly out-of-pocket limit.
If you’re on Original Medicare with nothing else behind it, Mark Cuban has a blunt message for you. Over the weekend, the Cost Plus Drugs co-founder wrote on X that “Traditional Medicare requires supplemental and drug coverage.”
He was replying to a post that estimated the cost of Medicare for All paid for with a payroll tax, and most of his thread argued that nobody in this country knows what health care actually costs. No law actually makes you buy a supplement. But work through one bad year without one, and Cuban’s version holds up.
One bad year costs $10,226.40
Let’s take a hypothetical: You’re on Original Medicare with no Medigap policy, no retiree coverage from an old employer and no Medicaid. Then a serious diagnosis runs up $50,000 of Medicare-approved Part B care in 2026.
You pay the first $283 yourself, since that’s this year’s Part B deductible. After that, you usually pay 20% of the approved cost of each covered service (assuming your doctors accept Medicare’s approved amount as full payment). On the remaining $49,717, your share is $9,943.40.
All told, you’re out $10,226.40 between the deductible and the 20%. And that’s on top of the $202.90 a month you already pay for Part B, or $2,434.80 for the year.
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Nothing caps the 20%
Original Medicare has no yearly limit on what you pay out of pocket, so your 20% keeps climbing right along with the bills. Push that hypothetical year to $100,000 of approved care, and you’d owe $20,226.40 between the deductible and your share. And since the deductible starts over every January, a second bad year means paying both all over again.
The only ways to get a limit are supplemental coverage, like a Medigap policy, or joining a Medicare Advantage plan. If you already have one of those, or retiree coverage from an old employer, Cuban’s warning isn’t aimed at you. It’s the retiree on Original Medicare alone who’d be stuck with the whole bill.
You get one clean shot at a Medigap policy
Medigap is the supplement Cuban had in mind, and it helps pay what Original Medicare leaves to you, including that 20%. The catch is timing. Federal law gives you a one-time, six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period. It starts the first month you have Part B and are 65 or older. If you put off Part B because you had coverage through work, it starts once you sign up.
During those six months, an insurer can’t use your health history to turn you down or deny you coverage for pre-existing problems. Once the window closes, you may not be able to buy a policy at all, or it may cost more. That hurts most for anyone with a health problem, who’s also the person most likely to need the coverage.
Dec. 7 is the other way to put a ceiling on it
If your Medigap window has already closed, Medicare’s open enrollment offers another way to get a cap. Through Dec. 7, you can switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, and the change takes effect Jan. 1. Every Medicare Advantage plan has a yearly out-of-pocket limit. Once you’ve paid up to it, the plan pays 100% of your covered health services for the rest of the calendar year.
That limit varies from plan to plan, so it pays to compare a few before you pick one. Just keep in mind that Medigap works only with Original Medicare. If you move to Medicare Advantage now and want to come back later, you’ll probably be outside your one-time window. Then an insurer may turn you down or charge you more.
Cuban’s right on this one
The way I see it, Cuban’s word is stronger than the law, and I’d still take his advice. A $10,226.40 bill from one rough year is a lot for most retirees to absorb, and Original Medicare puts no ceiling on a worse one. If you’re within six months of starting Part B, your Medigap window is the easiest time to close that gap. And if you’re on Original Medicare alone and already past that window, Dec. 7 is the date to circle.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
