Medicare Open Enrollment for 2027: Dates, Deadlines, and What’s Changing

Medicare open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026. Any change you make during that window takes effect on January 1, 2027.

That gives you about six weeks in September and early October to get organized before decision time. This guide covers the exact dates, what you can and cannot change, what is already confirmed for 2027 plans, and a short prep checklist you can finish in an afternoon. No rush, no panic. Just a head start.

The key dates to put on your calendar

Here is the full timeline, from the mail arriving this month through the start of next year.

By September 30, 2026. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan or a stand-alone Part D drug plan, your insurer must send you an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter by the end of September. It lists everything that changes in your plan for 2027: premiums, copays, deductibles, the drug list, and the provider network.

October 1, 2026. Details on 2027 plans become available, and you can start comparing them using the Plan Finder tool at medicare.gov.

October 15 through December 7, 2026. This is Medicare open enrollment, officially called the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). You can join, switch, or drop Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans. The last day to make a change is December 7.

January 1, 2027. New coverage begins.

January 1 through March 31, 2027. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan and change your mind, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period lets you make one switch: to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or back to Original Medicare with the option to add a Part D plan.

One reassuring note. If you do nothing during open enrollment, your current plan generally renews automatically for 2027. The catch is that the plan itself may change around you, which is exactly what the ANOC letter is for.

What you can change during open enrollment

During the October 15 to December 7 window, anyone with Medicare can:

• Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, or from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare
• Move from one Medicare Advantage plan to another
• Join a Part D prescription drug plan, switch to a different one, or drop drug coverage

What this window does not cover: Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies. Those follow different rules, and outside your initial Medigap open enrollment window, insurers in most states can consider your health history. If you are thinking about moving from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare plus Medigap, that is a good topic to raise with a licensed Medicare advisor or a SHIP counselor before you act.

What’s new for 2027 plans

Several 2027 changes are already confirmed, and a few pieces are still to come. Here is where things stand as of early September 2026.

The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400

The annual cap on what you pay out of pocket for covered Part D prescription drugs, created by the Inflation Reduction Act, moves from $2,100 in 2026 to $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit the cap, your covered drugs cost you nothing for the rest of the year. The maximum Part D deductible also rises, from $615 to $700. Both updates follow a formula set in law, and CMS confirmed them in its April 2026 rate announcement. The $35 monthly cap on covered insulin continues.

Stand-alone drug plan premiums may jump more than usual

This is the change most worth watching. Since 2025, CMS has run a program called the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, which paid extra subsidies to stand-alone drug plans to hold premiums down. In July 2026, CMS announced the program ends after 2026.

KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization, notes that some stand-alone Part D enrollees could see larger premium increases for 2027 than in recent years. The national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33, a 6 percent increase, which is the most that figure is allowed to rise each year under the Inflation Reduction Act. Individual plan premiums vary widely around that base, though, and some plans may go up considerably more. You will see your plan’s actual 2027 premium in your ANOC letter, which is a good reason to read it rather than file it.

Lower negotiated prices on 15 more drugs

Some genuinely good news. The second round of Medicare drug price negotiation takes effect January 1, 2027, bringing lower negotiated prices on 15 widely used medications, including Ozempic and Wegovy, plus drugs for asthma, COPD, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. About 5.3 million people with Part D coverage used these drugs in 2024. If you take one of them, 2027 pricing is worth a close look during open enrollment.

Part B premiums: not announced yet

The 2027 Part B premium and deductible have not been announced. CMS typically releases those figures in November. The Medicare Trustees Report published in June 2026 estimated the standard Part B premium could rise about 3.5 percent to roughly $209.50 per month, but that is an estimate, not a final number. We will cover the official figure when it lands.

Your prep checklist

You do not need to make any decisions this month. You just need to gather the facts so that October comparisons take an hour instead of a weekend. Five items:

1. Watch the mail for your ANOC letter. It must arrive by September 30. Read it with a pen and mark anything that changes: the premium, the deductible, your drug tiers, and whether your pharmacy stays in the preferred network.
2. List your medications. Write down each prescription, the dose, and how often you take it. This list is the single most useful thing to have in hand when comparing drug plans.
3. List your doctors and facilities. Note your primary care doctor, specialists, preferred hospital, and pharmacy. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, you will want to confirm each one is still in network for 2027.
4. Pull your spending from this year. A rough total of what you paid in premiums, copays, and prescriptions in 2026 gives you a baseline to compare plans against.
5. Note your log-in for medicare.gov. If you have not created a Medicare account, doing it now (it is free) makes plan comparison much smoother in October, since the site can load your saved drug list.

If you help a parent with their coverage, this checklist works just as well done together over a phone call. The ANOC letter is the natural starting point.

Where to get free, unbiased help

You never have to pay anyone to help you sort out Medicare, and you never have to make these decisions alone.

• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder tool, which shows 2027 plans in your area starting October 1.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is the official help line, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays.
• SHIP, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, offers free, unbiased, one-on-one counseling in every state from trained counselors who do not sell insurance. Find your local program at shiphelp.org or through 1-800-MEDICARE.

A licensed insurance agent can also walk you through options, and that can be genuinely helpful. Just know that agents are typically paid by the plans they sell, while SHIP counselors have no products to offer. Many people use both.

If you are also reviewing other coverage this fall, the insurance section of our perks page lists current offers we have gathered for readers, editorially selected and clearly marked.

This article opens our fall open enrollment series. Between now and December 7 we will cover reading your ANOC letter line by line, comparing drug plans with your actual prescriptions, and the questions to ask before switching. Subscribe to Retired Perks and each guide will arrive in your inbox before you need it.

Sources

• Open Enrollment | Medicare.gov
• Medicare Open Enrollment Partner Resources | CMS.gov
• Medicare Part D 2027 National Average Monthly Bid Amount Information | CMS.gov
• CMS’s Decision to End Temporary Subsidies to Medicare’s Stand-Alone Drug Plans Could Mean Larger Premium Increases for Some Beneficiaries Next Year | KFF
• Key Facts About Medicare Drug Price Negotiation | KFF
• Medicare 2027 Drug Price Negotiations List Announced | AARP
• Medicare Open Enrollment: Compare Plans and Changes | AARP
• What’s New for Medicare Part D in 2027 | Humana
• Medicare 2027 Projections: Higher Premiums Are Coming | Kiplinger