5 Medicare Changes Coming in 2027 and What They’ll Cost You

Elizabeth Guevara

Tue, September 8, 2026 at 11:34 PM GMT+3 6 min read

Premiums and coverage will change for most beneficiaries in 2027.
Credit: andreswd / Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles are projected to rise in 2027.
The government is ending a subsidy that cut stand-alone Part D drug plan premiums by an average of $16 a month this year.
Some beneficiaries will pay less, including those on GLP-1s or any of the 19 brands whose negotiated Medicare prices take effect in January.

Medicare costs are changing again in 2027, and whether you'll pay more depends largely on your coverage.

Medicare Advantage and Part D enrollees will receive an Annual Notice of Change by mail before the end of September. The notice spells out how their plan's coverage and costs will shift in 2027.

Most Medicare beneficiaries also collect Social Security, so higher premiums come straight out of their monthly checks. The 2027 cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security is projected to add 3.6%, about $70 per month, up from 2.8% this year, according to the most recent estimate from The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group.

Medicare open enrollment runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. During this period, beneficiaries can switch from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage, and join, switch, or drop a Part D drug plan.

Why This Matters

Medicare premiums are often deducted directly from Social Security payments. Reviewing plan changes in the coming months can help retirees plan for higher premiums, drug costs, or gaps in coverage next year.

1. Part B Premiums Will Rise

The estimated monthly premium for Part B in 2027 will be $209.50, $6.60 more than the 2026 rate, according to projections from the Medicare Board of Trustees.

All Medicare Advantage beneficiaries pay the Part B premium. Lower-income beneficiaries may qualify for a lower premium, and higher-income beneficiaries pay more if their modified gross adjusted income is above $109,000 for single filers and $218,000 for joint filers.

The Part B deductible is the amount beneficiaries pay out of pocket before Medicare begins covering outpatient care. It's expected to rise to $292 in 2027, up $9 from $283 this year.

2. Subsidy To End for Part D Premiums

Beneficiaries can buy Medicare Part D drug coverage as a stand-alone plan or get it bundled with Medicare Advantage. Beneficiaries with Part D pay a monthly premium, then a share of prescription costs until they hit an annual spending cap, above which Medicare covers the rest. In 2027, the out-of-pocket spending cap will go up from $2,100 to $2,400, according to the CMS Trustees.

In July, CMS said the 2027 Part D base premium would be $41.33. That's $2.34 higher than this year. The official premium change will be announced in mid-to-late September.

CMS also announced it was ending a Biden-era subsidy program two years early. The program paid insurers to hold down stand-alone drug plan premiums while they adjusted to the Inflation Reduction Act's redesign of Part D. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz wrote on X that most premiums will rise by less than $10.

An analysis by the Medicare Policy Advisory Commission, a nonpartisan panel that advises Congress on Medicare, estimates that the subsidy saved beneficiaries an average of $16 per month this year. The Government Accountability Office, analyzing the first year of the subsidy, found that without the cost-saving subsidy, enrollees in the same plan from 2024 to 2025 would have seen their premiums double.

3. Insurers Are Dropping Medicare Advantage Plans

Private insurers sell Medicare Advantage plans, which can boost a beneficiary's monthly costs but typically have lower deductibles and added benefits not covered by traditional Medicare, such as dental and vision care.

Beneficiaries should confirm their Medicare Advantage plan will continue in 2027, said Ciannah Correa, a research fellow at Georgetown University's Medicare Policy Initiative. Some insurers are trimming their coverage. Humana recently announced it would not renew plans for about 600,000 beneficiaries in 2027.

"Even if you're planning to stay in the same plan, make sure you check that your plan actually is maintaining the same level of supplemental benefits, or at least an adequate level for what you need," Correa said.

She suggests shopping around once open enrollment starts and calling doctors' offices directly to confirm they'll still be in network in 2027. Beneficiaries can work with brokers or free counselors through their local State Health Insurance Assistance Program to help them compare Medicare plans.

4. Negotiated Prices Take Effect for 19 Brands

The Inflation Reduction Act directed the CMS to negotiate prices with manufacturers to lower the cost of high-priced drugs.

The first round of negotiations covered prices for 10 prescriptions that took effect this year. A second round of negotiated prices takes effect for 2027.

Here are the drugs affected:

Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy: GLP-1 drugs
Trelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta: Inhalers for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Xtandi: Advanced prostate cancer
Pomalyst: Multiple myeloma and Kaposi sarcoma
Ibrance: Advanced or metastatic breast cancer
Ofev: Buildup of scar tissue in certain chronic lung diseases
Linzess: Irritable bowel syndrome with constipation
Calquence: Mantle cell lymphoma
Austedo, Austedo XR: Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) and Huntington's disease chorea
Tradjenta, Janumet, Janumet XR: Type 2 diabetes
Xifaxan: Hepatic encephalopathy recurrence and irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea
Vraylar: Major depressive disorder
Otezla: Plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers

5. Cheaper GLP-1s Will Continue in 2027

Medicare now covers three weight-loss drugs—Wegovy, the Zepbound KwikPen, and Foundayo—for a flat $50 a month for eligible beneficiaries. The pilot program, called the GLP-1 Bridge, started in July and will continue through the end of 2027. CMS hasn't said what, if anything, will replace the pilot once it's over.

The savings have been significant: these drugs typically list for $1,000 or more a month without coverage.

But not all Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for the GLP-1 Bridge. They must have Medicare Part D and meet one of the following conditions: a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher; a BMI of 30 to 34.9 with a heart condition, a previous heart attack or stroke, peripheral artery disease, or high blood pressure. Beneficiaries whose GLP-1s are already covered under Part D, such as those with type 2 diabetes, can't switch to the $50 price.

For those who qualify, the $50 copay doesn't count toward annual out-of-pocket caps.

People who already qualify for GLP-1 coverage through Part D "have to go through their Part D plans, and sometimes the cost sharing for that can be higher than the $50 per month that's advertised through the bridge program," said Rachel Schmidt, a research professor at the Medicare Policy Initiative. "That can be frustrating for people."

*Correction, Sept. 9, 2026: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the deadline for Medicare open enrollment. It's Dec. 7.

Read the original article on Investopedia