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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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  • Solvency Projections of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, 1970-2013

    Feature

    Solvency Projections of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, 1970-2013 Download Source Intermediate projections from 1970-2013 Annual Reports of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds.

  • Health Reform Implementation Timeline

    Interactive

    The health reform implementation timeline is an interactive tool designed to explain how and when the provisions of the Affordable Care Act will be implemented over the next several years.

  • Faces of Dually Eligible Beneficiaries: Profiles of People with Medicare and Medicaid Coverage

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines the role of Medicare and Medicaid in the lives of dually eligible beneficiaries – low-income seniors and younger adults with disabilities who are eligible for both programs – through personal profiles. It includes a glossary of eligibility and service delivery system terms and state-level enrollment and expenditure data for dual eligibles.

  • Improving the Financial Accountability of Nursing Facilities

    Report

    This report examines nursing facility expenditures to assess relative spending increases in areas such as nursing services, administrative costs, and profits. Using California as a case study, it explores reimbursement by cost category and a standard medical loss ratio (MLR) as potential policy options to improve nursing facility financial accountability and care quality.

  • An Analysis of the Share of Medicare Beneficiaries Who Would Benefit from an Annual Out-of-Pocket Maximum under Traditional Medicare Over Multiple Years

    Issue Brief

    This analysis examines the share of Medicare beneficiaries who would be helped over time if the program were to add a limit on out-of-pocket spending to traditional Medicare. This analysis was conducted jointly with the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) in response to a request made during a Feb. 26, 2013 hearing of the House Ways and Means' Subcommittee on Health.

  • Medicare: The Essentials

    Feature

    Medicare: The Essentials (July 2013) Download Medicare Enrollment, 1966-2013 Download Source Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare Enrollment: Hospital Insurance and/or Supplemental Medical Insurance Programs for Total, Fee-for-Service and Managed Care Enrollees as of July 1, 2011: Selected Calendar Years 1966-2011; 2012-2013, HHS Budget in Brief, FY2014. Medicare Beneficiaries as a Percent of State Populations, 2012 Download Source Calculation based on Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the CMS State/County Market Penetration file, March 2012;…

  • The Future of Medicare Advantage: Are We on the Right Path?

    Event Date:
    Event

    This June 10 briefing looked at Medicare Advantage and changes affecting it, including revised calculations of payments from CMS, and the Affordable Care Act's reduced payments to Medicare Advantage plans. Speakers discussed how Medicare Advantage plans are expected to respond to payment changes; if quality bonus payments created significant changes in patient care or plan choices; and what implications could these decisions have on beneficiaries with regard to premiums, benefits and more.

  • Medicare Advantage 2013 Spotlight: Enrollment Market Update

    Issue Brief

    This Data Spotlight provides an overview of Medicare Advantage enrollment patterns in March 2013, and examines variations by plan type, state, and firm. It also analyzes trends in premiums paid by beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, including variations by plan type, and describes the out-of-pocket limits and prescription drug coverage in the Part D “donut hole” provided by the plans in 2013.