I've spent over a decade staring at healthcare data for a living, so it takes a lot to make me sit up. This week, two things did.

The good one first. If you're on Medicare, there's a new program that just went live letting you get certain GLP-1 drugs, the weight-loss and diabetes kind, for $50 a month.

Fifty dollars. For drugs that have been running people $500 or more.

Call your doctor. Ask if you qualify. There are a couple of catches, you can't stack this on top of coverage you already have, and it's only funded through the end of 2027, so this isn't a "get to it eventually" situation. It's a "call this week" situation.

Now the one you'll like less. If you buy your own insurance instead of getting it through a job, early filings show companies asking for a 14% increase, on average, for next year. Some want a lot more than that.

The short version of why: the extra help the government was giving people to afford their premiums is drying up, and insurance companies don't eat that cost. You do.

So here's my advice, same as it always is: when it's time to renew this fall, don't just click the button that says "keep my current plan." Shop it. The math changed. Your best option probably did too.

Two stories, one week. A gift and a warning. That's healthcare for you.

— April