Medicare
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 3 health insurances by recommenders
People praise its low cost, national coverage, good care and reliable payments, though critics say it penalizes some people who fall outside its eligibility rules.
People praise its low cost, national coverage, good care and reliable payments, though critics say it penalizes some people who fall outside its eligibility rules.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Cheaper and better than private plans
“the monthly payment is about 1/4 of what I was paying for health insurance before I was eligible”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook's Impeccable Timing” “Medicare is a great deal, and you should take it if you can.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook's Impeccable Timing” “say it's better than the private insurance they had before”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook's Impeccable Timing” Single-payer national program that works
“the only viable solution in the US is a single payer insurance model”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “US commercial insurers pay 254% of Medicare for the same hospital procedures” “It's a working national health programme.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Four Million U.S. Children Had No Health Insurance in 2024” “thank heavens for Medicare and the PBS”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Children with cancer scammed out of millions fundraised for their treatment” Good care, including childbirth and checkups
“Medicare delivered my child safely via C-section, and saw them through all their important health checkups after.”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “More than 100k people in Japan are now aged 100 or older” “When I qualified for Medicare, the quality of care improved significantly.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “US commercial insurers pay 254% of Medicare for the same hospital procedures” Reliable payments and low admin costs
“Medicare pays one tenth the administrative costs private health insurance does.”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “The Life and Death of Direct File [pdf]” “Knowing that Medicare will reliably pay $X for code Y makes life vastly easier.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “US commercial insurers pay 254% of Medicare for the same hospital procedures”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Penalizes people who don't qualify
“Luckily Washington has phenomenal Medicare. But it would be nice if I weren't punished”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Medicare Will Pay $50k for Your Heart Attack. It Should Pay $100 to Prevent It”
Other health insurances people recommend
The two most recommended other health insurances, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser Permanente health insurance | 17 | 20 | 46% | 8 | — | — |
| MedicareThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 6 | — | Approved |
| UnitedHealthcare health insurance | 5 | 23 | 18% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Luckily Washington has phenomenal Medicare. But it would be nice if I weren't punished”
“It's too bad we can't all get it.”
“Medicare delivered my child safely via C-section, and saw them through all their important health checkups after.”
“Medicare pays one tenth the administrative costs private health insurance does.”
“Medicare is a great deal, and you should take it if you can.”
“+1 for Medicare for the non-rich, though.”
“say it's better than the private insurance they had before”
“the monthly payment is about 1/4 of what I was paying for health insurance before I was eligible”
“Knowing that Medicare will reliably pay $X for code Y makes life vastly easier.”
“When I qualified for Medicare, the quality of care improved significantly.”
“the only viable solution in the US is a single payer insurance model”
“It's a working national health programme.”
“thank heavens for Medicare and the PBS”
“Massive government subsidies for health care consumption not only eliminate, but disincentivize price discovery”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.