Medicare Open Enrollment 2027: What to Check Before December 7

Medicare Open Enrollment 2027 runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026, and whatever you decide in that window takes effect on January 1. It is the one stretch of the year when almost everyone on Medicare can change almost anything. It is also the stretch when most people do nothing at all, which is itself a decision.

The only three dates you need

Medicare has several enrollment periods and they get confused with each other constantly. For this fall, three dates do the work.

Inside that window you can move from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan or back the other way, switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, and join, change or drop a Part D drug plan. You do not need a reason and you do not need permission.

There is one more date worth knowing. If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1 and you regret it, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 to March 31 and lets you make one change. That is a safety net, not a plan. It does not apply if you are on Original Medicare.

The letter that arrived in September

Every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan has to send members an Annual Notice of Change before the end of September. It is a thick envelope and it looks like junk. It is not.

The Annual Notice of Change is your plan telling you, in writing, exactly what it is changing for next year: premiums, copays, the deductible, which drugs it covers, and which doctors and hospitals stay in the network. Plans are allowed to change all of that every January.

If you still have the envelope, find it. If you threw it out, call the member services number on the back of your plan card and ask them to send it again, or look for it in your plan's online account. Most of the decisions below come straight out of that document.

Will your doctor still be in network?

This is the question people forget, and it is the one that causes the most damage.

Plan networks change every year. A Medicare Advantage plan that covered your primary care doctor in 2026 is not obligated to cover the same doctor in 2027. People switch to a plan with a lower premium in November, then find out in February that the physician who has managed their blood pressure for nine years is now out of network.

Do not rely on the plan's online directory alone. Those directories are frequently out of date. Call the practice and ask directly.

Ask the same question about anyone else you see regularly, including specialists, your laboratory, your physical therapy provider and the hospital you would want to use. A plan that keeps your primary care doctor but drops your cardiologist is only half a solution.

Check your prescriptions, not just the premium

Every drug plan has a formulary, which is the list of medications it covers and what tier each one sits on. Formularies change annually. A medication that cost you a few dollars this year can move to a higher tier, require prior authorization, or drop off the list.

Write down every prescription you take, with the exact name and dose, then check that list against the plan you are considering. The Plan Finder at Medicare.gov will do this for you: enter your medications and your pharmacy, and it will show what each plan would actually cost you over the year rather than just the monthly premium.

Two details that catch people out. Plans have preferred pharmacies, and using one outside that group can cost noticeably more for the same drug. And if you have your prescriptions filled where you receive care, confirm that pharmacy is in the network before you switch.

What a zero dollar premium does and does not mean

Plenty of Medicare Advantage plans in Palm Beach County advertise a zero dollar monthly premium. That is real, and it is also not the whole cost.

• Copays. What you pay per visit, per specialist, per test. These add up quickly if you see a doctor often.
• Deductible. What you pay before the plan starts paying, on the medical side and the drug side separately.
• Maximum out of pocket. The ceiling on what you can spend in a year. This is the number that protects you in a bad year, and it varies a lot between plans.
• Extras. Dental, vision, hearing and transportation benefits differ enormously. If you use them, price them. If you do not, do not pay attention to them.

The honest way to compare is to estimate a realistic year for yourself. Count the visits you actually made in 2026, the tests you actually had, the drugs you actually take. A plan that looks expensive on the premium line is sometimes the cheaper plan for someone who sees a doctor monthly, and the reverse is true for someone who rarely goes.

If you do nothing at all before December 7, you stay in your current plan and it rolls into its 2027 version, with the 2027 premiums, the 2027 network and the 2027 formulary. Staying put is a legitimate choice. Staying put without reading the Annual Notice of Change is not really a choice, it is a guess.

Free help in Palm Beach County

You do not have to work this out alone, and you do not have to talk to a salesperson to get help.

Two practical notes. Appointments with SHINE counselors fill up as December approaches, so call in October rather than late November. And be careful with unsolicited phone calls and door knocks during enrollment season. Medicare will not call you out of the blue to sell a plan, and no legitimate agent needs your Medicare number to give you a quote.

If your question is simply whether we take a particular plan, that one is easy. Call the clinic and ask. We would rather answer that in September than sort it out with you in January.

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information about how Medicare enrollment works. It is not insurance advice and not a recommendation of any specific plan. Cagigas Medical Centers does not sell insurance. For free, unbiased counseling, contact Florida SHINE at 1-800-963-5337.