Home Medicare Topics

Medicare

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.

Read More

Latest News

More KFF Health News

Stay informed.

Get KFF's latest on Medicare

Stay informed.

Get KFF's latest on Medicare

View the Latest: Medicare

Filter

List Grid

741-750 of 1,627 results

  • Where President-elect Donald Trump Stands on Six Health Care Issues

    Issue Brief

    Where does President-elect Donald Trump stand on key health care issues? This snapshot outlines his positions and policy statements during the campaign on issues such as health insurance, the ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, the opioid epidemic, prescription drug costs, and women's reproductive health.

  • Medicare Part D: A First Look at Prescription Drug Plans in 2017

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides an overview of the 2017 Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plan marketplace, based on analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The brief focuses on data for 2017 and changes over time in plan availability, premiums, benefit design, cost sharing, and low-income subsidy plan availability.

  • Medicare Drug Plan Enrollees Would Face an Average 9 Percent Premium Increase Unless They Switch Plans During Open Enrollment, New Analysis Finds

    News Release

    Current enrollees in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are projected to face an average 9 percent increase in premiums if they remain in their current plan for 2017, according to an analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. During Medicare’s 2017 open enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, Medicare beneficiaries in each state will have a choice of 22 stand-alone Part D drug plans (PDPs), on average. This is fewer…

  • Snapshot of Where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Stand on Seven Health Care Issues

    Issue Brief

    Where do the 2016 Presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, stand on key health care issues? This snapshot outlines the candidates' positions and policy statements on issues such as health insurance, the ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, the opioid epidemic, prescription drug costs, women's reproductive health, and Zika.

  • Policy Insight Examines a Key Barrier That Younger Medicare Beneficiaries with Disabilities Face in Getting Supplemental Insurance Coverage

    News Release

    In a new policy insight, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Tricia Neuman and Juliette Cubanski examine a 1990 federal law that ensures that people age 65 and older are able to buy a Medigap policy when they sign up for Medicare, but denies younger Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities the same right unless they live in a state that requires it.

  • The Gap in Medigap

    Perspective

    This policy insight examines the low rate of Medigap coverage among people under age 65 with disabilities on Medicare and the federal law that governs consumer rights and protections related to Medigap open enrollment.