Ohio cancer patient, 83, pulled $4,000 from savings as health costs weigh on older voters

Barbara Weigand, 83, of North Canton, Ohio, recently took $4,000 out of her retirement account to pay medical expenses from her cancer treatment, the Associated Press reported Saturday ¹. A shoulder surgery and a bladder cancer diagnosis this year have tested her finances ¹.

On my monthly income, I would not be able to afford my new medical expenses.

Weigand, who is on a Medicare Advantage plan, a private alternative to traditional Medicare, is looking at new coverage during open enrollment ¹. She has also thought about rationing her medicine. "I've been thinking — if I could just do this every other day rather than every day to make the medicine last longer," she told the AP ¹.

That matters because she is far from alone. In a KFF health policy poll taken in February and March, 43% of U.S. adults said they had not taken a medication as prescribed in the past year because of cost ⁶. About one in five, 19%, had cut pills in half or skipped doses ⁶.

What changes in January

Medicare's open enrollment runs through Dec. 7 ³. One change is in Part D, Medicare's prescription drug coverage: the yearly cap on out-of-pocket drug costs rises from $2,100 to $2,400 in 2027 ³. For someone on expensive drugs, that is up to $300 more a year.

From Channel GOPHusted's nine votes against lower health premiumsSherrod Brown · 128 plays · captioned, with the source named

Temporary federal subsidies that held down premiums for stand-alone drug plans are also ending. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that runs Medicare, announced the decision July 28 and said the program was no longer needed ⁵. Its administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, defended the move, calling the subsidy program an insurance industry bailout and a flawed response to the 2022 drug law ³.

CMS does project the average stand-alone plan premium will barely move, from $35.09 to $36 a month ⁴. It also projects the average Medicare Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 to $12 a month ⁴. But an average can hide what happens to one person's bill.

KFF found that many stand-alone plan enrollees will see lower or only modestly higher premiums ². Most people in Part D are in Medicare Advantage drug plans and will not be affected by those changes ². Others will pay much more unless they switch: two AARP-branded plans with more than 2 million enrollees who get no low-income help face premium increases of $50 or more a month in many states ².

Stand-alone plans with no monthly premium will disappear for people who do not get low-income subsidies ². About 4 million of those enrollees paid no premium in 2026 ². The AP also reports that in some states insurers have capped the number of people who can enroll in Medicare Advantage plans, pulled out of markets or eliminated plans ¹.

Then there is Part B, which covers doctor visits and outpatient care. Its standard premium jumped $17.90 this year to $202.90 a month ⁹. President Trump's one-time $90 payment, announced weeks before the election, covers less than half of one month's premium ⁹¹⁰. People in Medicare Advantage do not qualify ¹¹.

The bill that never shows up on a Medicare statement

Family caregivers now spend an average of $11,508 a year supporting a relative or friend, up from $7,242 in 2021, according to an AARP report cited by the AP ¹. That is an increase of nearly 60% ¹. About one-third of Americans over 50 provide regular care to an adult with a health issue or disability, a September 2025 University of Michigan poll found ¹.

Next year's 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living raise comes to about $75 a month for nearly 72 million recipients ¹. Measured against caregiving costs alone, that raise does not go far. Each $75 monthly raise adds up to $900 a year, while average caregiving spending has climbed by more than $4,000 since 2021 ¹.

The choice in Weigand's home state

The AP does not report how Weigand plans to vote ¹. But Ohio's Senate race shows how differently the two parties talk about these costs. Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former senator trying to return, said at an August campaign stop that he wants to cap prescription drug prices and have the government bargain over them ⁸.

We should have the government do it the way we do it at the VA; negotiate drug prices.

"You shouldn't pay more for a pill here than you pay in Canada," Brown added ⁸. Republican Sen. Jon Husted sponsored a bill that he says would lower prices by making it easier to sell more prescription drugs over the counter ⁸.

Husted has also pointed to anti-fraud rules in last year's Republican tax and budget law. "I think the American taxpayers are tired of the fraud that goes on in the health care system," he said ⁸. In an opinion piece, he wrote that the law sent "more Medicaid dollars and more support for rural hospitals to Ohio than ever before" ¹².

Advocates say the same law could remove more than 500,000 Ohioans from Medicaid, the health program for people with low incomes, which now covers more than 3 million people in the state ⁸. Separately, about 161,000 fewer Ohioans were enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in February than a year earlier, after extra federal premium help ended ⁸.

Nationally, the AP notes that the Trump administration has struck most-favored-nation deals with drugmakers, meant to tie U.S. prices to lower ones abroad, and has launched the TrumpRx discount website ¹. Only 7% of people taking prescription drugs said they had visited the site in the past month when KFF polled this winter ⁶.

Older voters could decide it

An AARP poll released Oct. 15 found 83% of voters 50 and older are extremely motivated to vote, compared with 66% of those under 50 ⁷. Those older voters cast 59% of the ballots in the 2022 midterm, according to exit polls cited by AARP ⁷.

more Medicaid dollars and more support for rural hospitals to Ohio than ever before

They are not a safe bloc for Democrats. In the 43 toss-up or lean House districts AARP surveyed, voters 50 and older favored Republicans 53% to 43% ⁷. Among the persuadable ones, Republicans led just 39% to 38%, with 23% undecided ⁷.

The opening for Democrats is on the issues. Persuadable older voters ranked rising prices first and Social Security and Medicare second ⁷. In those districts, 85% of voters 50 and older said they would be more likely to back a candidate who would expand Medicare's drug price negotiation ⁷.

Pollster Matt Hogan of Impact Research told the AP, "Social Security and Medicare should definitely be part of their messaging" ¹. The pattern is that candidates of both parties are promising relief, while the changes retirees will actually see in January are already set.

For now, the most practical step is the one KFF's Medicare policy director, Juliette Cubanski, recommends. "The bottom line is that it will pay to shop around," she told AARP ³.

The Record

1. Nov 14, 2025CMS sets the 2026 Part B premium at $202.90 a month, up $17.90 from 2025 ⁹.
2. Mar 2, 2026KFF finishes a poll finding 43% of adults did not take a medication as prescribed in the past year because of cost ⁶.
3. Jul 28, 2026CMS announces it will end the temporary subsidies for stand-alone Part D premiums after 2026 ⁵.
4. Oct 2, 2026The White House announces one-time $90 payments for Part B premiums, and KFF reports some drug plan enrollees face monthly increases of $50 or more ²¹⁰.
5. Oct 31, 2026The AP reports that Barbara Weigand, 83, withdrew $4,000 from retirement savings for cancer treatment costs ¹.

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<h2>Ohio cancer patient, 83, pulled $4,000 from savings as health costs weigh on older voters</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Kitchen-Table Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/ohio-cancer-patient-83-pulled-4-000-from-savings-as-health-costs-weigh-on-older">The GOP Files</a> on Saturday, October 31, 2026.</em></p> <p>Barbara Weigand, 83, of North Canton, Ohio, recently took $4,000 out of her retirement account to pay medical expenses from her cancer treatment, the Associated Press reported Saturday . A shoulder surgery and a bladder cancer diagnosis this year have tested her finances .</p> <blockquote><p>On my monthly income, I would not be able to afford my new medical expenses.</p><p>&mdash; Barbara Weigand, 83, retiree and Medicare Advantage enrollee, North Canton, Ohio</p></blockquote> <p>Weigand, who is on a Medicare Advantage plan, a private alternative to traditional Medicare, is looking at new coverage during open enrollment . She has also thought about rationing her medicine. &quot;I&#39;ve been thinking — if I could just do this every other day rather than every day to make the medicine last longer,&quot; she told the AP .</p> <p>That matters because she is far from alone. In a KFF health policy poll taken in February and March, 43% of U.S. adults said they had not taken a medication as prescribed in the past year because of cost . About one in five, 19%, had cut pills in half or skipped doses .</p> <h2>What changes in January</h2> <p>Medicare&#39;s open enrollment runs through Dec. 7 . One change is in Part D, Medicare&#39;s prescription drug coverage: the yearly cap on out-of-pocket drug costs rises from $2,100 to $2,400 in 2027 . For someone on expensive drugs, that is up to $300 more a year.</p> <p>Temporary federal subsidies that held down premiums for stand-alone drug plans are also ending. The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that runs Medicare, announced the decision July 28 and said the program was no longer needed . Its administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, defended the move, calling the subsidy program an insurance industry bailout and a flawed response to the 2022 drug law .</p> <p>CMS does project the average stand-alone plan premium will barely move, from $35.09 to $36 a month . It also projects the average Medicare Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 to $12 a month . But an average can hide what happens to one person&#39;s bill.</p> <p>KFF found that many stand-alone plan enrollees will see lower or only modestly higher premiums . Most people in Part D are in Medicare Advantage drug plans and will not be affected by those changes . Others will pay much more unless they switch: two AARP-branded plans with more than 2 million enrollees who get no low-income help face premium increases of $50 or more a month in many states .</p> <p>Stand-alone plans with no monthly premium will disappear for people who do not get low-income subsidies . About 4 million of those enrollees paid no premium in 2026 . The AP also reports that in some states insurers have capped the number of people who can enroll in Medicare Advantage plans, pulled out of markets or eliminated plans .</p> <p>Then there is Part B, which covers doctor visits and outpatient care. Its standard premium jumped $17.90 this year to $202.90 a month . President Trump&#39;s one-time $90 payment, announced weeks before the election, covers less than half of one month&#39;s premium . People in Medicare Advantage do not qualify .</p> <h2>The bill that never shows up on a Medicare statement</h2> <p>Family caregivers now spend an average of $11,508 a year supporting a relative or friend, up from $7,242 in 2021, according to an AARP report cited by the AP . That is an increase of nearly 60% . About one-third of Americans over 50 provide regular care to an adult with a health issue or disability, a September 2025 University of Michigan poll found .</p> <p>Next year&#39;s 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living raise comes to about $75 a month for nearly 72 million recipients . Measured against caregiving costs alone, that raise does not go far. Each $75 monthly raise adds up to $900 a year, while average caregiving spending has climbed by more than $4,000 since 2021 .</p> <h2>The choice in Weigand&#39;s home state</h2> <p>The AP does not report how Weigand plans to vote . But Ohio&#39;s Senate race shows how differently the two parties talk about these costs. Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former senator trying to return, said at an August campaign stop that he wants to cap prescription drug prices and have the government bargain over them .</p> <blockquote><p>We should have the government do it the way we do it at the VA; negotiate drug prices.</p><p>&mdash; Sherrod Brown, former U.S. senator and Senate candidate, D-Ohio</p></blockquote> <p>&quot;You shouldn&#39;t pay more for a pill here than you pay in Canada,&quot; Brown added . Republican Sen. Jon Husted sponsored a bill that he says would lower prices by making it easier to sell more prescription drugs over the counter .</p> <p>Husted has also pointed to anti-fraud rules in last year&#39;s Republican tax and budget law. &quot;I think the American taxpayers are tired of the fraud that goes on in the health care system,&quot; he said . In an opinion piece, he wrote that the law sent &quot;more Medicaid dollars and more support for rural hospitals to Ohio than ever before&quot; .</p> <p>Advocates say the same law could remove more than 500,000 Ohioans from Medicaid, the health program for people with low incomes, which now covers more than 3 million people in the state . Separately, about 161,000 fewer Ohioans were enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in February than a year earlier, after extra federal premium help ended .</p> <p>Nationally, the AP notes that the Trump administration has struck most-favored-nation deals with drugmakers, meant to tie U.S. prices to lower ones abroad, and has launched the TrumpRx discount website . Only 7% of people taking prescription drugs said they had visited the site in the past month when KFF polled this winter .</p> <h2>Older voters could decide it</h2> <p>An AARP poll released Oct. 15 found 83% of voters 50 and older are extremely motivated to vote, compared with 66% of those under 50 . Those older voters cast 59% of the ballots in the 2022 midterm, according to exit polls cited by AARP .</p> <blockquote><p>more Medicaid dollars and more support for rural hospitals to Ohio than ever before</p><p>&mdash; Jon Husted, U.S. senator, R-Ohio</p></blockquote> <p>They are not a safe bloc for Democrats. In the 43 toss-up or lean House districts AARP surveyed, voters 50 and older favored Republicans 53% to 43% . Among the persuadable ones, Republicans led just 39% to 38%, with 23% undecided .</p> <p>The opening for Democrats is on the issues. Persuadable older voters ranked rising prices first and Social Security and Medicare second . In those districts, 85% of voters 50 and older said they would be more likely to back a candidate who would expand Medicare&#39;s drug price negotiation .</p> <p>Pollster Matt Hogan of Impact Research told the AP, &quot;Social Security and Medicare should definitely be part of their messaging&quot; . The pattern is that candidates of both parties are promising relief, while the changes retirees will actually see in January are already set.</p> <p>For now, the most practical step is the one KFF&#39;s Medicare policy director, Juliette Cubanski, recommends. &quot;The bottom line is that it will pay to shop around,&quot; she told AARP .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/ohio-cancer-patient-83-pulled-4-000-from-savings-as-health-costs-weigh-on-older">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/ohio-cancer-patient-83-pulled-4-000-from-savings-as-health-costs-weigh-on-older.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

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3. AARP, “Medicare Part D premiums in 2027” (2026-09-29). aarp.org/medicare/medicare-part-d-premiums-2027/
4. CMS, “Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Programs Expected to Remain Stable in 2027” (2026-09-28). cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/medicare-advantage-medicare-
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8. The Statehouse News Bureau, “2026 race for U.S. Senate: Where the candidates stand on health issues” (2026-10-29). statenews.org/government-politics/2026-10-29/2026-race-for-u
9. CMS, “2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles” (2025-11-14). cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2026-medicare-parts-b-premiums-
10. The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Announces Medicare Improvement Fund Payments for Seniors” (2026-10-02). whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/10/fact-sheet-president-dona
11. AP via STAT, “Medicare Part B enrollees to get $90 payments, Trump says” (2026-10-04). statnews.com/2026/10/04/trump-announces-90-dollar-payments-f
12. Newsweek via Yahoo News, “Sherrod Brown vs. Jon Husted's plans for Medicare and Social Security” (2026-10-30). yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/sherrod-brown-vs-jon-husted

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