# Bad News and Really Great News

An episode of [Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1439621652), 4 Oct 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2df1102a-5761-4c99-b489-aabd0161f8fe/44e0936e-923c-43c7-9e2a-aade00edf4d3/47161076-34a1-4fef-bd85-b4d8015e407d/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=4e05fb00-5a5b-4ed9-b353-aade00edf4dd

On this brand new Suze School, Suze talks about some major news that just broke about Medicare Advantage that you need to hear. Make sure you listen all the way to end for a really fantastic offer only for Suze listeners (that's you!) Learn more about the Ultimate Scam Protection here: SuzeOrman.com Watch Suze’s YouTube Channel Jumpstart financial wellness for your employees: https://bit.ly/SecureSave Protect your financial future with the Must Have Docs: https://bit.ly/3Vq1V3G Help with the Must Have Docs: • Email:support@musthavedocuments.zendesk.com • Phone: 888-510-0510 Get your savings going with Alliant Credit Union: https://bit.ly/3rg0Yio Get Suze’s special offers for podcast listeners at suzeorman.com/offer Join Suze’s Women & Money Community for FREE and ASK SUZE your questions which may just end up on the podcast. Download the app by following one of these links: CLICK HERE FOR APPLE: https://apple.co/2KcAHbH CLICK HERE FOR GOOGLE PLAY: https://bit.ly/3curfMI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Suze: Hi, everybody. Suze O here. You're listening to the Women
[0:03] Suze: and Money podcast. Now, normally right here, there is a
[0:07] Suze: promo for the sponsor of the Women and Money podcast. However,
[0:11] Suze: I want you to listen to this podcast all the
[0:15] Suze: way through, this particular one.
[0:18] Suze: The first part are things you really need to know,
[0:21] Suze: especially if you are older, that I don't think is
[0:24] Suze: very great news. The second part is really great, great
[0:30] Suze: news and something I hope all of you take advantage of.
[0:34] Suze: So make sure you listen all the way through. Are
[0:39] Suze: you ready? Let's begin.
[0:49] Suze: October 4th, 2026. Hi everybody, Suze O here and welcome
[0:55] Suze: to the Women in Money podcast and everybody smart enough
[0:59] Suze: to listen. I am recording this podcast on October 1st
[1:05] Suze: because we are about to leave to go to LA
[1:09] Suze: on October 4th. I'll be giving the closing keynote at
[1:14] Suze: the Alex Theater in Glendale, California.
[1:17] Suze: And hopefully if you want, I'm sure there's still some
[1:20] Suze: tickets left. If not, oh, just come in, but go
[1:23] Suze: to SuzeOrman.com/empower and if you can't be there, just scroll
[1:30] Suze: down and that is where you can sign up for
[1:34] Suze: a free stream and watch it all. So, I don't know,
[1:39] Suze: that might be a whole lot of fun.
[1:41] Suze: However, after my talk, I am doing a meet and
[1:45] Suze: greet and just know for those of you who will
[1:48] Suze: be there, they're calling it a book signing, but you
[1:51] Suze: do not have to buy a book to come and
[1:53] Suze: greet me or take a picture with me or do whatever. So,
[1:59] Suze: I'm kind of excited to see what happens.
[2:01] Suze: There from there on October 5th we make our way
[2:06] Suze: to Istanbul for three days. Then on October 9th we
[2:11] Suze: will be in Kenya. October 12th we will be in Paris,
[2:16] Suze: and who knows after that, but we should be back
[2:20] Suze: after about October 22nd just so you know, all right.
[2:27] Suze: Now, today, I have to tell you, is a very
[2:31] Suze: interesting day. Get out your notebooks, because today is Suze School,
[2:35] Suze: and I have two things I want to talk to
[2:39] Suze: you about. The first part of this Suze School is
[2:44] Suze: something that you need to know that isn't great news.
[2:48] Suze: I'm just gonna tell you that right now for many,
[2:51] Suze: many of you.
[2:53] Suze: The second part, however, is absolutely incredible news, and I
[3:01] Suze: know if you're smart, you're gonna love what I have
[3:05] Suze: to tell you for the second part of this podcast.
[3:10] Suze: Do you remember last week I gave you a master
[3:12] Suze: class on Medicare and I briefly talked about Medicare Advantage
[3:18] Suze: and I said, as I've always said...
[3:22] Suze: Please, if you can get Medicare and Medigap insurance and
[3:28] Suze: stay away from Medicare Advantage. Well, of course, many of
[3:32] Suze: you wrote me, and what did you do? "You said, Suze,
[3:34] Suze: why don't you like Medicare Advantage? It has worked so
[3:38] Suze: well for me." And I wrote you back, and you
[3:40] Suze: know who all of you are, and I said, Have
[3:43] Suze: you ever tried to make a claim?
[3:46] Suze: And you said, "no." I said, have you ever been
[3:49] Suze: sick or had to really use it?
[3:51] Suze: And you said "no." I said, well, one day when
[3:56] Suze: you need it, you're going to find out why I
[3:58] Suze: don't like it, but there is another reason I don't
[4:01] Suze: like it, and here it is.
[4:04] Suze: Bloomberg reported on October 1st, and that is the day
[4:10] Suze: I'm recording this, so it's just happened today, that major
[4:14] Suze: health insurers are cutting back their Medicare Advantage offerings for 2027.
[4:21] Suze: What does that mean? It means some plans are going
[4:23] Suze: to disappear. Some insurers are leaving certain counties altogether.
[4:29] Suze: It means benefits can change, networks can change, and some
[4:33] Suze: people who have a Medicare Advantage plan today may discover
[4:39] Suze: that the plan that they have relied on, all those
[4:41] Suze: people that wrote me, they've relied upon it, simply will
[4:45] Suze: not be the same plan available to them next year
[4:50] Suze: or worse yet, it may not be available at all.
[4:56] Suze: But why, Suze?
[4:57] Suze: Are you wondering why is this happening?
[5:00] Suze: Listen, you all need to remember something. You know, insurance
[5:04] Suze: companies are not my favorite thing, but that is besides
[5:06] Suze: the point. Insurance companies, however, are businesses, and they have shareholders. Oh,
[5:14] Suze: they have expenses, they have to make money, and Medicare
[5:18] Suze: Advantage has become more challenging for some of the insurers,
[5:23] Suze: as medical costs, you know, inflation just hasn't hit your
[5:27] Suze: food or your gasoline.
[5:29] Suze: Right? It has also hit medical costs, and when medical
[5:34] Suze: costs go up and all of you are using more
[5:37] Suze: health care, when your prescription drugs and what they cost
[5:41] Suze: have increased, and the government has changed how some Medicare
[5:47] Suze: Advantage payments are calculated.
[5:51] Suze: Guess what happens? Uh-huh.
[5:54] Suze: Insurance companies are looking at the plans and the geographic areas, everybody,
[6:00] Suze: that are not producing the financial results that they want.
[6:05] Suze: They're not caring about you. They're not caring if you're
[6:07] Suze: gonna get sick and you're in one of those geographic locations,
[6:11] Suze: but when they find a geographic location that's costing them
[6:15] Suze: too much money, what are they doing? They are pulling back.
[6:19] Suze: Now I don't want you to hear this and panic.
[6:22] Suze: I know how some of you panic. You write me panicked.
[6:25] Suze: It's not that Medicare Advantage is disappearing, because it is not.
[6:31] Suze: There will still be Medicare Advantage plans, I'm sure, available
[6:36] Suze: throughout most of the country.
[6:38] Suze: But everybody, I'm telling you this is a wake up
[6:41] Suze: call because there is something I have told you for years.
[6:46] Suze: You cannot put your financial life on autopilot, haven't I
[6:49] Suze: told you that? And you cannot put your Medicare coverage
[6:53] Suze: on autopilot either. So last week didn't I say every
[6:57] Suze: single year you need to look because here's what happens
[7:00] Suze: you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, OK.
[7:03] Suze: You like your doctor, you like your hospital, you love
[7:07] Suze: your benefits, even though maybe you haven't used them yet,
[7:09] Suze: but that's besides the point.
[7:11] Suze: Maybe you like that you're paying a very low premium,
[7:15] Suze: and there are some of you, which is why you
[7:17] Suze: love it, you are not paying any premium at all
[7:21] Suze: for the Medicare Advantage plan, and you think to yourself, "OK,
[7:26] Suze: I'm done. I don't need to look at this anymore.
[7:29] Suze: It's hardly costing me anything. Maybe it's not costing me
[7:32] Suze: anything at all."
[7:34] Suze: But you're not dumb, because the plan can change. Your
[7:39] Suze: doctor can leave the network, your hospital, are you writing
[7:43] Suze: this down? Your hospital can leave the network, your prescription
[7:48] Suze: drug can move to another tier.
[7:51] Suze: Your copay can change. Your deductible can change. Your maximum
[7:56] Suze: out of pocket amount can change. Your dental benefits can change.
[8:01] Suze: Your vision benefits can change, your hearing benefits can change,
[8:04] Suze: and the entire plan can disappear from your area. Are
[8:08] Suze: you hearing me? So if you are enrolled in Medicare Advantage,
[8:14] Suze: you should receive an annual notice of change. You need
[8:18] Suze: to look for it.
[8:20] Suze: And if you get it, I want you to actually
[8:24] Suze: read it. Oh, how novel is that.
[8:26] Suze: You're going to open it up and read it. I
[8:29] Suze: am begging you not to throw it away. Don't look
[8:31] Suze: at it and say, Oh, Medicare stuff, I'll deal with
[8:34] Suze: that later. Uh, uh, you have to deal with it now.
[8:37] Suze: Now I am repeating what I said to you last week,
[8:40] Suze: but because of what happened today, this deserves repeating. And
[8:46] Suze: the reason is again because Medicare open enrollment, as I
[8:50] Suze: told you before, runs from October 15th through December 7th.
[8:55] Suze: And this year I want every single one of you
[8:58] Suze: who is on Medicare Advantage, especially to compare your coverage,
[9:05] Suze: especially if you love your current plan, because you need
[9:09] Suze: to know whether the things you love about the plan
[9:13] Suze: that you have today are still going to be there
[9:18] Suze: in 2027, if at all.
[9:22] Suze: I know I did this last week, but here's what
[9:26] Suze: I really need you to do. I need you to
[9:29] Suze: make sure if you don't have your Suze notebooks open now,
[9:32] Suze: you really do.
[9:34] Suze: And in your notebook, or even just on a piece
[9:37] Suze: of paper, I want you to write down every doctor
[9:42] Suze: you regularly see.
[9:45] Suze: Can you write down every specialist you see?
[9:49] Suze: Can you write down the hospital you would want to
[9:52] Suze: go to if something serious happened, and then I need
[9:58] Suze: you to write down every prescription you take.
[10:03] Suze: Now you are going to compare that list with the
[10:06] Suze: plan you will have in 2027 and just ask yourself
[10:11] Suze: and look at it, are those doctors still in network?
[10:15] Suze: Are those specialists still in network? Is that hospital still
[10:19] Suze: in network? Are your drugs still covered?
[10:23] Suze: And what are they going to cost? Because I do
[10:25] Suze: not want you choosing health insurance, simply because somebody tells
[10:29] Suze: you it's a $0 premium.
[10:34] Suze: A $0 premium does not mean $0 health care. You
[10:41] Suze: can save a few dollars maybe on a premium, but
[10:44] Suze: you can also spend thousands more when you actually need Medicare.
[10:50] Suze: Do you know how many thousands of people on Medicare Advantage,
[10:56] Suze: wrote me and told me stories that are like are
[10:59] Suze: you kidding me so don't just ask what is the
[11:03] Suze: premium ask what could this cost me if I get sick.
[11:08] Suze: Again, look at your deductible, your co-pays, your co-insurance, your
[11:12] Suze: prescription costs, and look at the maximum amount you could
[11:17] Suze: potentially have to pay out of pocket.
[11:20] Suze: Now, there's another issue here that you have to understand.
[11:26] Suze: Some of you may hear all of this and think, "Oh, Suze,
[11:29] Suze: forget Medicare Advantage. I'll go back to original Medicare and
[11:32] Suze: buy a Medigap policy."
[11:35] Suze: I went over this last week, but I'm gonna do
[11:37] Suze: it one more time, cause too many of you wrote
[11:40] Suze: me saying, oh, you're gonna think about doing that.
[11:45] Suze: Now, this can be seriously a totally wise decision for
[11:49] Suze: some people, but you cannot assume that you can always
[11:54] Suze: switch from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare and automatically
[12:00] Suze: buy whatever Mediap policy you want. So there are specific
[12:05] Suze: periods when you have guaranteed issue rights.
[12:08] Suze: There are also circumstances when a Medicare Advantage plan leaves
[12:12] Suze: Medicare or stops covering your area that can give you
[12:16] Suze: certain federal protections, and some states have additional protections, but
[12:22] Suze: depending on your circumstances, everybody, your ability to buy Mediap
[12:27] Suze: later may be very different from your ability to buy
[12:31] Suze: it when you are first eligible.
[12:34] Suze: So, do not cancel one form of coverage until you
[12:37] Suze: know exactly what you can replace it with. Never give
[12:40] Suze: up something until you know what you are getting. This
[12:45] Suze: implies to your money, it applies to insurance, and it
[12:50] Suze: certainly applies to Medicare. Now, why am I spending so
[12:54] Suze: much time on this today again?
[12:57] Suze: Because the insurance companies are doing exactly what I tell
[13:00] Suze: you to do with your own finances. They're looking at
[13:04] Suze: the numbers, they're deciding what works for them financially, and
[13:09] Suze: they are making changes. You need to do exactly the
[13:13] Suze: same thing. They are looking after their financial interests. You
[13:18] Suze: need to look after yours.
[13:20] Suze: Back to the insurance companies for a second because this
[13:24] Suze: is what I want to leave you with. Next year,
[13:27] Suze: as some of the largest Medicare Advantage providers are cutting
[13:33] Suze: benefits and discontinuing some of the plans, if you have
[13:38] Suze: United Health Group, about 390,000 people are part of plans
[13:45] Suze: that are shutting down.
[13:48] Suze: From Humana, a spokesman from them said, that will cut
[13:53] Suze: plans covering about 600,000 people.
[13:59] Suze: CVS Health Corp, Aetna, Centen Corp are also shrinking their
[14:05] Suze: Medicare Advantage options, according to Wall Street analysts who review
[14:11] Suze: government data published this week.
[14:15] Suze: Obviously, other options have to be offered to you, but
[14:20] Suze: don't wait. You need to find out if you are
[14:24] Suze: in one of the areas, if you're with one of
[14:27] Suze: those companies, that possibly this is going to affect you.
[14:34] Suze: That's why I said this isn't great news, cause I'm
[14:37] Suze: sure there are many of you seriously, because of how
[14:39] Suze: many of you listen to the Women in Money podcast,
[14:43] Suze: that this possibly could affect. But for all of you
[14:48] Suze: who haven't yet chosen, you're not 65 yet.
[14:54] Suze: Can you just hear what I just said?
[14:57] Suze: And can you do what I've asked all of you
[14:59] Suze: to do if at all possible? Choose Medicare over Medicare Advantage.
[15:07] Suze: Now, are you all ready for the good news? I've
[15:09] Suze: been waiting for this for some time. Do you remember
[15:12] Suze: a few weeks ago I was talking about interest rates
[15:14] Suze: and what interest rates do, and they're going up and
[15:17] Suze: what happened with the Fed funds rate and all of
[15:19] Suze: that fun stuff. Do you remember me saying to you,
[15:23] Suze: I don't want you locking in any money right now
[15:28] Suze: in a certificate of deposit or certificates at credit unions
[15:33] Suze: for that matter.
[15:35] Suze: Now there was method to my madness, and the method
[15:39] Suze: was very simple.
[15:41] Suze: I had a feeling interest rates were going to go up,
[15:45] Suze: and that why lock in two or three weeks ago
[15:48] Suze: when you could probably get a significantly higher rate right now.
[15:54] Suze: And to that end, I started to work with Alliant
[15:59] Suze: Credit Union, who you know, sponsors this podcast. I do
[16:03] Suze: not make any money if you do something with them,
[16:06] Suze: if you don't, they simply sponsor the podcast.
[16:11] Suze: And I said, everybody's looking to lock in a great rate.
[16:17] Suze: And I was talking to Mike Dobbins, the CEO, and
[16:19] Suze: I was saying, Mike, what can you do? You don't
[16:22] Suze: have to do it for everybody, but is there something
[16:25] Suze: that you can do special just for Suze listeners? You know,
[16:32] Suze: those that go to MyAlliant.com, not that go to Alliant.
[16:37] Suze: Anywhere else they don't go to your other sites, but
[16:41] Suze: they're my people, and the reason we know they're my
[16:44] Suze: people is they go to MyAlliant.com.
[16:48] Suze: And he came back to me. And he said, "Suze....
[16:53] Suze: From the day that you're all hearing this, October 4th
[16:59] Suze: all the way through October 31st, 2026.
[17:06] Suze: If your people and your people, only, this is exclusive
[17:10] Suze: just for your people, Suze. If your people want one
[17:15] Suze: of the highest rates out there, if not the highest
[17:19] Suze: rate out there,
[17:21] Suze: We are willing to offer just to your people 4.45
[17:27] Suze: APY for a 12 month certificate, and for those of
[17:33] Suze: you who have larger sums of money, $75,000 or more,
[17:38] Suze: it's 4.5 APY."
[17:44] Suze: Now, look around.
[17:47] Suze: Check it all out. As I'm recording this, those rates
[17:50] Suze: are actually a little bit higher than the one-year Treasury.
[17:56] Suze: So, treasuries are sliding back a little bit here.
[18:01] Suze: Will interest rates continue to go up farther than they're
[18:05] Suze: going right now, maybe.
[18:08] Suze: But chances are I don't think so. There's so much
[18:14] Suze: speculation in the next two meetings. Are they going to
[18:17] Suze: raise rates? What are they going to do? And I
[18:20] Suze: have found that rather than waiting to see, can something
[18:24] Suze: get better than this.
[18:27] Suze: I would take advantage of it right now. You have
[18:30] Suze: till October 31st, 11:59 p.m. Central time to not only
[18:37] Suze: open your account at MyAliant.com but to fund it. Now
[18:43] Suze: this isn't just about new money. If you have money
[18:47] Suze: sitting in the Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account at Alliant Credit Union.
[18:54] Suze: You already did it every single month and then you
[18:56] Suze: got your $100 or whatever it is if you even
[18:59] Suze: did that program, you can absolutely take money from there,
[19:05] Suze: which is I think at 3.10 right now and switch
[19:08] Suze: it over to a 12 month certificate for 4.45% or 4.5%
[19:14] Suze: APY depending on the amount of money.
[19:18] Suze: If you have a certificate that is coming due sometime
[19:23] Suze: within this time frame today all the way through October
[19:29] Suze: 31st when it actually matures, you can take that money
[19:35] Suze: and also take advantage of this 12 month certificate.
[19:40] Suze: For those of you who have money that are sitting
[19:43] Suze: in a money market account at 3.5%, and you are
[19:47] Suze: just waiting, you're waiting to see what happens with interest rates,
[19:52] Suze: I don't think you should wait anymore, because what are
[19:55] Suze: they gonna do? They're gonna go to 4.6, 4.7, I
[19:58] Suze: don't think so, but they could.
[20:01] Suze: So, if you want to wait, just don't wait with
[20:04] Suze: all of your money. Remember, it's a minimum of $1,000
[20:11] Suze: to do this. It is NCUA insured up to $250,000.
[20:17] Suze: It's with one of the greatest and largest online credit unions.
[20:22] Suze: The portfolio is safe. They are not offering it to
[20:27] Suze: their other members. I hope their other members don't get
[20:30] Suze: mad at them. In fact, I think if you go
[20:33] Suze: on and you look, their current rate, last time I
[20:36] Suze: looked was 4.10. There is a big difference between 4.10
[20:41] Suze: APY and 4.45% APY or 4.5% APY.
[20:49] Suze: Take advantage of it. I am telling you, if you
[20:54] Suze: don't need this money for 12 months, if you want
[20:58] Suze: to lock in what I consider one of the highest
[21:01] Suze: rates currently.
[21:03] Suze: And you want to take advantage of it. It's really
[21:06] Suze: just that simple. The reason that you see me excited
[21:10] Suze: about this is I know what it took for them
[21:12] Suze: to do this. I know what it took for them
[21:15] Suze: to say, Suzie, this is exclusive to Suzie fans, to
[21:21] Suze: those that listen to you.
[21:24] Suze: So they're honoring you in their own way. They're also
[21:28] Suze: honoring me by honoring you.
[21:31] Suze: It's there for you for the taking if you want. Again,
[21:34] Suze: I'm just gonna repeat, if you wanna wait, do half
[21:37] Suze: now and wait to see what happens. You don't have
[21:40] Suze: to be an all or nothing investor.
[21:44] Robert: Hey, Suze, it's Robert, and I just need to jump
[21:45] Robert: in real quick and remind everyone that this offer is
[21:48] Robert: only good for Suze podcast followers. You either have to
[21:52] Robert: go to MyAlliant.com or if you have a certificate already
[21:56] Robert: and you want this offer, you have to call and
[21:59] Robert: say you are a Suze Saver. The number to call
[22:02] Robert: is 800-328-1935. That's 800-328-1935. Again, tell them you're a Suze
[22:10] Robert: Saver and the kind folks at Alliant, they're gonna take
[22:13] Robert: care of you. Thanks, Suze.
[22:14] Suze: All right.
[22:16] Suze: That was the good news. I actually think that's pretty
[22:19] Suze: great news.
[22:21] Suze: We are gone now all the way through October 22nd,
[22:28] Suze: but we have recorded brand new Suze Schools and KT Asks
[22:33] Suze: Suze editions for you all the way through that time.
[22:39] Suze: So wish us luck.
[22:41] Suze: We're doing this entire trip with one carry-on each. That
[22:46] Suze: is it. That's it. Think we can do it? We
[22:50] Suze: can cause KT is the absolute best packer in life.
[22:56] Suze: I can't believe how much she can get in a suitcase. Me,
[22:59] Suze: not so much. I'm like, let's go.
[23:01] Suze: All right, so until we get back, please stay tuned,
[23:06] Suze: take advantage of Myalliant.com. That's the only place you can
[23:09] Suze: go to get this, and no, there's only one thing
[23:13] Suze: that I want you to remember when it comes to
[23:15] Suze: your money, and it is this people first, then money,
[23:19] Suze: then things. Now you stay safe. Bye bye.

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