Annual Enrollment starts October 15. Read your plan's letter first.

Every fall, Medicare gives you seven and a half weeks to change your coverage for the coming year. For 2027 the window runs October 15 through December 7, and whatever you choose starts January 1.

Most people do nothing, and their plan renews. That can be the right call, but only if you have read what your plan is changing.

Start with the letter you already have

Every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan mails its members an Annual Notice of Change in September. It lists what the plan is changing for next year: the premium, the deductible and copays, the doctors and hospitals in its network, and which drugs it covers and at what tier.

The drug list is the page people skip, and it is usually the one that costs them. A medication that moves to a higher tier can cost more over a year than the whole difference in premium between two plans.

If the letter went out with the recycling, your plan will send another copy. Or call us and we will look up the same information with you.

What you can change in the window

Between October 15 and December 7 you can:

• Join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan
• Join, switch, or drop a Part D drug plan
• Leave Medicare Advantage and go back to Original Medicare

What it does not change: your Medigap policy

Annual Enrollment is not a Medicare Supplement window. Colorado has no birthday rule and no yearly do-over, so outside a few specific situations, applying for a new Medigap policy means answering health questions, and the carrier can say no.

That matters most if you are thinking of leaving Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare this fall. Leaving is the easy half. Getting a Medigap policy to go with it may not be, so find out whether you would be accepted before you give up the plan you have.

Four things to check for 2027

Your doctors and hospitals. Networks change every January. Check each doctor you would hate to lose, and the hospital you would want to go to, against the 2027 network rather than this year's.

Every drug you take. Look each one up on the 2027 drug list, at your dose. Check the tier, and whether the plan now wants prior authorization before it pays.

Your pharmacy. A plan's preferred pharmacies can change too, and the same drug can cost a different amount at each.

The ceiling on drug costs. For 2027, the most you pay out of pocket for covered Part D drugs is $2,400 (up from $2,100 this year), and a plan's deductible can be as high as $700. If you usually reach the ceiling, $2,400 is the number to plan your year around.

Why a standalone drug plan deserves a closer look this year

A federal program that has held down premiums on standalone Part D plans since 2025 ends with this plan year. Drug coverage built into a Medicare Advantage plan is largely insulated from that change. If you have Original Medicare with a separate drug plan, expect it to be repriced for 2027, and compare it rather than letting it renew.

What does not move: the ceiling on drug costs, the limit on insulin, and Medicare's drug price negotiation are all written into law.

If your plan is ending

If your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving your county or closing at the end of the year, the letter says so, and it opens a door that is usually shut. In Colorado, a plan that ends gives you the right to buy certain Medigap policies without health questions, for six months from the day your coverage ends.

Keep that letter. You need it with the application. We wrote more about what the letter does for you.

After December 7

If you pick a Medicare Advantage plan and it proves to be the wrong one, there is a second, narrower window from January 1 through March 31 for people already on Advantage. It allows one switch. Treat it as a backstop, not as the plan.

How we can help

Call early. The first week of December is the busiest week of our year, and a rushed decision is how people end up in a plan their specialist does not take.

Bring your Annual Notice of Change, a list of your prescriptions with doses, and the doctors you want to keep. Before we can talk about specific Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, CMS requires us to send you a short Scope of Appointment form. It takes a minute, and you can do it by phone.

Our help costs you nothing.