DanfioOne bill is set by the state, the other by the calendar
Published 2026-10-31 · Last reviewed 2026-10-31
Two bills arrive whether or not anything goes wrong: the auto policy that has to be in force before the car moves, and the Medicare premium that begins at 65. Neither price is set by shopping skill. A state legislature writes the liability floor the policy must clear, and CMS publishes the Part B premium everyone pays. This page checks one real quote against the first and prices a year of both Medicare paths against the second - the two places where the rules, rather than the market, decide the number.
The state minimum is a floor, priced per person
Texas writes its minimum as 30/60/25, read in order as bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. On a $900 six-month quote that is $1,800 a year, and the policy clears every limit. The per-person figure is what pays one injured person, so $30,000 is the whole of what the policy contributes to a single serious claim. A modest injury at $50,000 leaves $20,000 to the household; a catastrophic one at $500,000 leaves $470,000. The per-accident limit caps the total for everyone hurt in one crash, which is why the two numbers are written together.
| Claim | Your limit pays | Out of your pocket |
|---|---|---|
| Fender bender, no injuries | $5,000 | $0 |
| One person, modest injuries | $30,000 | $20,000 |
| One person, serious injury | $30,000 | $120,000 |
| One person, catastrophic injury | $30,000 | $470,000 |
A cheaper quote can sit below the floor
A quote written $25,000 / $50,000 / $20,000 is cheaper and, in Texas, is not a legal policy: the engine returns three shortfalls and fails the state's financial-responsibility test. The per-person limit is $5,000 below the floor, the per-accident limit $10,000 below, and the property limit $5,000 below. Nothing about that quote is exotic - it matches a minimum still sold in other states - but a policy written under the floor cannot satisfy the requirement it was bought for, and the gap lands on the household at exactly the moment the claim is largest.
Medicare: one premium, two shapes
Original Medicare is priced in three layers: the Part B premium of $2,435 a year, the deductibles, and 20 percent of approved Part B services after the Part B deductible. One hospital stay, 3 inpatient days and $2,000 of Part B services come to $2,362 of cost sharing on top of $2,435 of premiums -$4,797 for the year. A Medicare Advantage plan keeps the same Part B premium and replaces the rest with its own copays, capped at the plan's out-of-pocket maximum. At $12,000 of services the Original path totals $6,797 and the Advantage path $4,835, so Medicare Advantage is $1,962 cheaper this year. The shape matters more than the total: the Advantage line stops at $9,000 of cost sharing and the Original line keeps climbing for as long as the services do.
| Services a year | Original Medicare | Medicare Advantage | Cheaper by |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $4,454 | $2,435 | Advantage by $2,019 |
| $3,000 | $4,997 | $3,035 | Advantage by $1,962 |
| $6,000 | $5,597 | $3,635 | Advantage by $1,962 |
| $12,000 | $6,797 | $4,835 | Advantage by $1,962 |
| $24,000 | $9,197 | $7,235 | Advantage by $1,962 |
| $36,000 | $11,597 | $9,635 | Advantage by $1,962 |
| $48,000 | $13,997 | $11,435 | Advantage by $2,562 |
The Advantage column flattens when cost sharing reaches the out-of-pocket maximum entered here; the Original column has no maximum of its own. Both columns include the same Part B premium, and the Original column includes one Part A deductible per hospital stay - which is why its cheap end is not as cheap as it first looks.
Where these numbers come from
- The liability table. The state codes and dollar limits come from one published table; the Texas row used here is 30/60/25. The same calculation doubles the six-month quote of $900 to $1,800 and sizes each claim against $30,000.
- The Medicare cost figures. The 2026 CMS amounts are used as published: the $202.90 Part B premium a month becomes $2,435 a year, the $283 Part B deductible and the $1,736 Part A deductible per stay are each charged once, and the remaining Part B services are charged at 20 percent above the deductible.
- The path comparison. Both routes are priced on the same Part B premium, and the service levels in the table are swept one by one, so the crossing point - or the absence of one - is calculated rather than assumed.
What this guide does not cover
It checks one quote against one state's floor and prices one year of Medicare at one service level. It does not model how an insurer prices a policy - driving record, address, vehicle, coverage choices or a credit-based insurance score - and it leaves out uninsured and underinsured motorist cover, collision and comprehensive deductibles, no-fault states, and the filings some drivers need after a violation. On the Medicare side it leaves out income-related Part B premiums, Part D drug coverage and its cap, provider networks, prior authorization, out-of-network care, the supplemental benefits an Advantage plan may add, late-enrollment penalties, and the fact that a Medigap policy is priced here as a premium only rather than as cover for the Part A and Part B cost sharing it usually pays. Enrollment rules and plan availability are the parts a real decision turns on.
Review a quote in the Auto Insurance Estimator, price a year of Original Medicare in the Medicare Cost Calculator, then put the two paths side by side in the Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare Calculator.
Estimates only - not financial, tax or legal advice, and it does not predict how an insurer, a state regulator or CMS will treat a particular policy or claim. Read the full disclaimer.