Every month someone asks whether they can just take Original Medicare and skip the plans entirely. It is a fair question with an unfair answer, so let us stress test it with real 2026 numbers.
What going bare looks like
Original Medicare pays generously but incompletely: after the $283 Part B deductible you owe 20 percent of outpatient costs with no annual ceiling, plus the $1,736 hospital deductible per benefit period, plus daily coinsurance on long stays ($434 per day for days 61 to 90), plus $217 per day for extended skilled nursing. And with no Part D, prescriptions run retail while a late-enrollment penalty quietly accrues at 1 percent per month.
The stress test
| Scenario | What Original Medicare alone leaves you |
|---|---|
| Healthy year: checkups, labs, one urgent care visit | Modest: deductibles plus small 20% slices |
| One hospital week plus rehab stay | $1,736 plus daily coinsurance plus 20% of outpatient follow-up |
| Cancer year: infusions, imaging, specialists | 20% of a very large number, uncapped |
The first row seduces people; the third row is why the question exists. Insurance is priced for the year you do not expect.
Who can rationally go bare?
Honestly? Almost nobody, but the near-exceptions look like this: substantial assets that could absorb an uncapped year without changing your life, other creditable coverage (VA benefits, some retiree arrangements) doing the heavy lifting, or a short deliberate bridge before other coverage begins. Even then, most of these people buy at least a Part D plan to stop the penalty clock.
The cheap versions of not-bare
If premiums are the objection, the market has answers short of nothing: $0-premium Advantage plans put a ceiling on disaster for no monthly cost beyond Part B; high-deductible Plan G offers Medigap protection at its lowest price point; and low-premium Part D plans cost little while blocking the lifetime penalty. Bare is not the only budget option; it is just the only one with unlimited downside.
The professor's verdict: Original Medicare is a superb foundation and a reckless finished house. Put something on top of it, even something inexpensive, and make the choice with your options actually priced instead of guessed.
Questions about how this applies to you? That is what office hours are for: call (561) 770-7957 or book a free review. No cost, no pressure, ever.
