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Medicare Open Enrollment

Part D Premiums and Cost Sharing in 2027

The average monthly premium for Medicare Part D coverage in stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) will increase to $51 in 2027, up 50% from $34 in 2026, if current enrollees don’t switch into lower-premium plans during the open enrollment period. That is more than five times higher than the drug coverage premium in Medicare Advantage plans that offer Part D coverage, which is projected to average $9 per month in 2027. Most Part D enrollees also will face a deductible of several hundred dollars for drug coverage in 2027.

Also: Many Medicare Part D Stand-Alone Drug Plan Enrollees Will See Modest Premium Increases for 2027

Medicare Open Enrollment and Coverage Options: Key Questions and Answers

Each year, Medicare beneficiaries have an opportunity to make changes to how they receive their Medicare coverage during the nearly 8-week annual open enrollment period, which runs from October 15 through December 7. This brief answers key questions about the Medicare open enrollment period and Medicare coverage options.

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

How Much Do People With Medicare Pay For Coverage?

This brief provides an overview of the costs faced by Medicare beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D, including premiums, deductibles, copays, and coinsurance, focusing on costs in 2026.

What’s in a Name? From Today’s Medicare to Medicare for All

KFF’s Larry Levitt explains how proposals to create Medicare-for-All promise more generous benefits than the existing Medicare program, with no premiums or cost-sharing, but could end up looking more like Medicare if it became the subject of a serious national debate about the tradeoffs involved to implement it.

Medigap

Medigap Guaranteed Issue Requirements: An Overview of Federal and State Rules

This issue brief analyzes federal and state rules related to guaranteed issue requirements for Medigap policies and how they impact beneficiaries’ access to Medigap, including the implications for Medicare beneficiaries with pre-existing medical conditions and those under age 65 with long-term disabilities.

MEDICARE PART D

Medicare Advantage

The Average Beneficiary has 28 Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plan Options for 2027

On average, Medicare beneficiaries will have the option of 28 Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans in 2027, a decline from the 32 options available in 2026 (excluding employer plans and special needs plans not available for general enrollment).
The number varies across states. In 26 states and Puerto Rico, the average beneficiary has at least 20 MA-PD options in 2027, while in nine states and DC, the average beneficiary has fewer than 10 MA-PD options. Open enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7.

Medicare Advantage in 2026: Enrollment Update and Key Trends

Medicare Advantage Enrollees Have Access to Half of the Physicians Available to Traditional Medicare Beneficiaries

Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 53 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2024

Medicare Will Spend More Than $13 Billion on the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Program in 2026

Prescription Drugs

CMS’s Decision to End Temporary Subsidies to Medicare’s Stand-Alone Drug Plans Could Mean Larger Premium Increases for Some Beneficiaries Next Year

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to end the temporary Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration after 2026. The goal of the demonstration, established in 2024, was to stabilize stand-alone prescription drug plan (PDP) premiums and enrollment amid the rollout of changes to the Part D benefit under the Inflation Reduction Act, including a new cap on annual out -of-pocket drug costs.

Key Facts About Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

Recent Trends in GLP-1 Use and Spending in Medicare

What to Know About Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and Federal Efforts at Regulation

Nearly Four Million Medicare Beneficiaries Met the Eligibility Criteria in 2023 for the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge

Data Visualization

The Facts About Medicare Spending

This interactive provides the facts on Medicare spending. Medicare, which serves 67 million people and accounts for 12 percent of the federal budget and 21 percent of national health spending, is often the focus of discussions about health expenditures, health care affordability and the sustainability of federal health programs. Explore data on enrollment growth, Medicare spending trends overall and per person, growth in Medicare spending relative to private insurance, spending on benefits and Medicare Advantage, Part A trust fund solvency challenges, and growth in out-of-pocket spending by beneficiaries.

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  • The Implications of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit for Dual Eligibles

    Other Post

    Three new reports focus on one of the biggest challenges in the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act, the transitioning of drug coverage for individuals dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, who now get their drug coverage from Medicaid, to the new Medicare benefit. The New Medicare Prescription Drug Law: Issues for Enrolling Dual Eligibles into Drug Plans Medicare's New Prescription Drug Benefit: The Voices of People Dually Covered by Medicare and Medicaid Implications of…

  • e-Health and the Elderly: How Seniors Use the Internet for Health – Survey

    Poll Finding

    A national Kaiser Family Foundation survey of older Americans found that as the Internet becomes an increasingly important resource for informing decisions about health and health care options, less than a third (31%) of seniors (age 65 and older) have ever gone online, but that more than two-thirds (70%) of the next generation of seniors (50-64 year-olds) have done so. The differences among seniors and 50-64 year-olds are striking and indicate that online resources for…

  • Health Care Agenda for the New Congress – Toplines

    Poll Finding

    This document includes the complete toplines from a survey of the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for Bush's second term and the new Congress in 2005. It assesses the relative priority placed on health-care concerns by the American public and also provides insight into public opinion on key issues likely to face the new Congress, such as implementing the Medicare drug law, controlling health care costs, reducing the nation’s uninsured population and reforming…

  • e-Health and the Elderly: How Seniors Use the Internet for Health

    Poll Finding

    A national Kaiser Family Foundation survey of older Americans found that as the Internet becomes an increasingly important resource for informing decisions about health and health care options, less than a third (31%) of seniors (age 65 and older) have ever gone online, but that more than two-thirds (70%) of the next generation of seniors (50-64 year-olds) have done so. The differences among seniors and 50-64 year-olds are striking and indicate that online resources for…

  • Health Care Agenda for the New Congress – Chartpack

    Poll Finding

    This chartpack provides key findings from the survey of the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for Bush's second term and the new Congress in 2005. It assesses the relative priority placed on health-care concerns by the American public and also provides insight into public opinion on key issues likely to face the new Congress, such as implementing the Medicare drug law, controlling health care costs, reducing the nation’s uninsured population and reforming the…

  • The Distributional Consequences of  Medicare Premium Support Proposal

    Other Post

    The Distributional Consequences of a Medicare Premium Support Proposal This article analyzes the expected distributional impact of enacting a premium support proposal for Medicare based on legislation introduced by Sen. Breaux and Sen. Frist in 1999. This legislation suggested that the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan be used as a model for Medicare. The article simulates impacts in three areas: among beneficiaries who choose to retain fee-for-service coverage, between different geographic areas, and according to…

  • Summary of the Proposed Rule to Implement the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

    Issue Brief

    In August 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a proposed rule to implement the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Title I of the Medicare Modernization Act). Given the high level of interest in the proposed rules for implementing the Medicare drug benefit, the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned Health Policy Alternatives, Inc. to prepare this summary of the proposed regulations. Issue Brief (.pdf)