Medicare Is Changing for 2027: What to Review Before Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment is still a few months away, which is exactly why now is the time to pay attention. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D payment policies earlier this year.
Jessica Beckley
Head of Client Processing
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Here is the part that is easy to miss about Medicare: if you do nothing, something still happens. Your current plan does not pause and wait for you. It rolls into its 2027 version automatically, with whatever new costs, coverage rules, and network changes come with it. Doing nothing is a decision, and it is not always the one you would choose if you had looked closely.
Open Enrollment is still a few months away, which is exactly why now is the time to pay attention. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D payment policies earlier this year. The specifics of individual plans, including costs, benefits, provider networks, and prescription coverage, will come into focus as we get closer to the fall. What tends to stay the same is how easy it is to let another year renew on autopilot.
Why a yearly review matters
A plan that fits you today can quietly stop fitting you next year. Premiums shift. Formularies get reworked, and a medication that is covered now may not be. A physician or pharmacy that is in network today may not be in 2027. These are not rare situations. They happen every year, often to people who assumed no news was good news.
For many people, the changes arrive the same way: a stack of mail in September, dense notices that are not easy to interpret, and a deadline that comes faster than expected. Reviewing it all alone can feel like too much, so plans get renewed as is. That is often how someone ends up in coverage that no longer serves them, with limited options to change until the next enrollment period.
The dates that matter
Now through September: Gather your information. Review your current coverage, your prescriptions, your preferred doctors and pharmacies, and any changes in your health over the past year.
By September 30: Your Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC, arrives. Your plan is required to send it by this date. It outlines exactly what is changing in January, including anything that affects your costs, coverage, and benefits. It is worth reading closely rather than setting aside.
October 1: You can begin comparing your current coverage against 2027 options using the official Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov/plan-compare.
October 15 through December 7: Open Enrollment. This is the window for eligible beneficiaries to join, switch, or drop certain Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, with changes generally taking effect January 1. Once it passes, the ability to make changes becomes limited.
A quick inventory worth taking
Before the notices arrive, it helps to have a clear picture of:
Your current prescription medications
Your preferred doctors and specialists
Your preferred pharmacy
Any changes in your health care needs over the past year
Your current premiums and out-of-pocket costs
A free resource worth knowing about
There is a resource many people are never told about. The State Health Insurance Assistance Program, known as SHIP, offers free, unbiased Medicare counseling to beneficiaries and their families. It is federally funded, and every state has one. In Florida, the program is called SHINE, which stands for Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders, and it is run by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs.
What makes SHIP and SHINE worth knowing about is their independence. Their counselors do not sell insurance and work on no commission, so their only role is to help you understand your choices. A trained counselor can sit with you, in person, by phone, or online, and help you compare Medicare Advantage and Part D plans side by side, explain how your benefits and any Medigap coverage fit together, and check whether you qualify for programs that can lower your premiums and out-of-pocket costs, such as the Medicare Savings Programs or Extra Help.
You can find your local program, including Florida's SHINE, through the locator at shiphelp.org.
If you would like a clear, objective read on your plan options this fall, this is a good place to begin.
A money decision, not only a health one
Choosing coverage is not only about finding the lowest monthly premium. Health care decisions reach into parts of your finances that are easy to overlook. Higher income can raise your Medicare premiums through IRMAA, the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, and that surcharge is based on your income from two years earlier. The wrong drug plan can quietly affect your cash flow. Coverage choices interact with your taxable income and your retirement drawdown in ways that are hard to see one decision at a time.
A SHIP or SHINE counselor can help you understand and choose the plan itself. What that counseling does not include is a look at how the choice fits the rest of your financial life. That is where having someone in your corner makes a difference. Not someone to hand you a brochure, but someone who understands your full financial picture and can help you see which of these dates and decisions will matter for your situation.
You do not need to decide today
The people who come out of Open Enrollment in the strongest position are rarely the ones who started in October. They are the ones who got organized before the mail arrived. Whether you are already enrolled or approaching Medicare eligibility, this is a good moment to get ahead of the decision rather than feel rushed as the deadline approaches.
If your Annual Notice of Change raises questions, or you simply want to stop navigating these decisions alone, we are always glad to help.
