2027 Medicare AEP: 7 Things to Check Before You Renew

1. Start with your Annual Notice of Change

If you have Medicare Advantage or Part D, your plan generally sends an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) in September. It explains changes to next year’s coverage and costs.

Start with the parts that affect you most:

• Monthly premiums
• Copays and coinsurance
• Hospital costs
• Prescription coverage
• Provider or pharmacy network changes
• Extra benefits

A plan that worked well this year may not be identical next year.

2. Check your doctors and hospitals

For Medicare Advantage members, provider networks deserve a fresh check every year. Confirm that your primary care doctor, specialists and preferred hospitals accept the specific 2027 plan you intend to use.

If you manage a chronic condition or have an established care team, keeping access to those providers may matter more than many extra benefits.

3. Review every regular prescription

Don’t stop at checking whether a drug is covered. Look at how it will be covered:

• Is it still on the formulary?
• Has its drug tier changed?
• Have copays or coinsurance changed?
• Are there new requirements, such as prior authorization?
• Will your usual pharmacy still offer suitable pricing?

The same medication can cost very different amounts under different plans.

4. Look beyond a $0 premium

A $0 monthly Medicare Advantage plan premium does not mean $0 in medical expenses, or that the plan is necessarily right for you.

Review the deductible, primary care and specialist copays, hospital costs, prescription costs, coinsurance and maximum out-of-pocket limit (MOOP).

Instead of asking only what a plan costs each month, ask how its overall cost structure fits the care and medications you expect to use next year.

5. Recheck dental, vision, hearing and other extras

Medicare Advantage plans may offer benefits beyond Original Medicare, such as dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter allowances and fitness benefits.

Allowances, networks, rules and ways to use these benefits can change each year. Rather than simply remembering that your plan includes dental coverage, check how much is available, what it covers and where you can use it in 2027.

Compare the extras, but do not let them overshadow your doctors, prescriptions and medical costs.

6. Consider what has changed in your own life

Your plan may be similar, while your needs have changed. Have you added a specialist, started a long-term medication, needed more chronic-condition support or begun seeing doctors more often?

If so, last year’s choice deserves another review. If your needs and coverage remain a good match, you do not have to switch just because AEP has arrived.

7. Check the transition before changing coverage paths

AEP allows eligible changes between Medicare Advantage and Original Medicare. But moving to Original Medicare with Medigap and a separate Part D plan requires additional attention.

The ability to leave Medicare Advantage during AEP does not mean you can always buy Medigap without medical underwriting.

If Medigap is part of your plan, confirm your eligibility and how the coverage will fit together before leaving Medicare Advantage.