Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period — the one window each year when everyone on Medicare can change plans — runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, with every change taking effect January 1, 2027. Whether you plan to switch or stay put, the eight steps below are how you make that decision on purpose. Most people can complete them in under two hours, and a licensed agent can compress them into one phone call.
First, Confirm Which Window You're Actually In
- Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), Oct 15 – Dec 7: join, switch, or drop Medicare Advantage and Part D plans for the coming year. Applies to everyone on Medicare.
- Not turning-65 enrollment: if you're newly eligible, your Initial Enrollment Period runs on your birthday clock, not the fall calendar.
- Not Medigap season: Medicare Supplement plans don't follow AEP — you can apply anytime, subject to your state's underwriting rules.
Your 8-Step AEP Checklist
1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) — actually read it. It arrives by September 30 from your current plan and lists exactly what changes January 1: premium, copays, deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, drug formulary, and provider network. Highlight anything that got worse. This document is the single best predictor of whether you should shop.
2. Re-verify your doctors. Networks change every year even when your plan's name doesn't. Confirm your primary care doctor, every specialist, and your preferred hospital are still in-network for 2027 — don't assume.
3. Re-run your medication list. Formularies are redrawn annually: drugs move tiers, gain prior-authorization requirements, or drop off entirely. Check every prescription, at your actual pharmacy, at your actual dosages.
4. Total what this year really cost you. Premiums plus copays plus drug costs. That number — not the premium alone — is what you're trying to beat.
5. Compare against everything available in your county for 2027. Carriers enter and exit counties, launch new plans, and re-price existing ones every single year. The plan lineup you chose from two years ago is not the lineup on the table now. This is where agents earn their role: we compare all the carriers we represent at once instead of you calling them one by one.
6. Check whether your situation changed. New diagnosis of diabetes or a heart condition? A Chronic Condition SNP may now fit. Enrolled in Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program? Look at D-SNP plans. Planning to travel more? Network flexibility just got more important — see Medicare Advantage vs. Medicare Supplement.
7. Decide — including deciding to stay. Staying put is a fine outcome when it survives the comparison. It's only a mistake when it happens by inertia.
8. Enroll before December 7 and keep the confirmation number.If you enroll in a new plan, the new enrollment automatically replaces the old one — you don't need to "cancel" anything. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
What's Changing for Medicare in 2026 — and What to Watch for 2027
The current landscape, so you know the baseline you're comparing from:
- The Part D out-of-pocket cap is real and indexed. In 2026, your out-of-pocket costs for covered Part D drugs are capped at $2,100 for the year; the cap adjusts annually, so watch for the 2027 figure in your ANOC. The old donut hole is gone.
- Insulin remains capped at $35/month on every Part D plan, with no deductible applied.
- The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs evenly across the year — an opt-in with your plan, worth considering if you hit the pharmacy hard in January.
- Part B costs: the 2026 standard premium is $202.90/month with a $283 deductible; 2027 figures will be announced in the fall — factor them into any comparison between Medicare Advantage and the Medigap route.
- Negotiated drug prices arrive in 2027. Medicare-negotiated prices on an initial set of high-cost drugs take effect in plan year 2027, with more drugs in following years. If you take one of the negotiated drugs, your 2027 costs may look meaningfully different — another reason this year's comparison is worth doing carefully.
- Plan-level changes vary by county. Benefit allowances (OTC, dental, flex cards), premiums, and networks are re-set plan by plan each year — no national summary substitutes for checking your own county's lineup starting October 1.
The Three Mistakes We See Every AEP
1. Renewing by default. The plan that was right in 2024 renews automatically into its 2027 version — with whatever the ANOC changed — unless you act.
2. Shopping on premium alone. A $0-premium plan with the wrong formulary can cost you far more than a $30 plan with the right one. Compare total annual cost.
3. Waiting until the first week of December. Enrollment volume peaks late; doctors' offices get slower at confirming network questions; and you leave no margin for surprises. October and November are the comfortable months.
Get It Done in One Call
A licensed MegaCare agent will pull the 2027 plans in your county, check your doctors and prescriptions against each one, and enroll you on the spot if you find a better fit — at no cost, with identical premiums to enrolling directly. Call 888-918-6920 (TTY: 711), Mon–Fri 9am–6pm EST. Lines are busiest after Thanksgiving; calling in October gets you unhurried time.