Given he’s most certainly on Medicare Advantage at 74, and the context of the article, I think that’s the sticker cost from the manufacturer, not the patient-billed cost. His bill was, most likely, in the hundreds.
Minor nit. Medicare Advantage is an optional thing people can buy into. The standard is Medicare A&B although you can also buy Medicare Supplemental (Medigap)to cover some of the deductibles (and foreign travel) and D for prescription drugs.
Totally! You caught me assuming MA given the baseline enrollment is slightly higher, and that number is also slightly greater in CA, but valid thing to note.