Compare 2027 Medicare Plans With a Licensed Agent/Broker

2027 Medicare coverage, AEP and OEP explained

Prepare for 2027 with a licensed agent who can explain your coverage choices and enrollment timing. Review your current plan’s Annual Notice of Change, doctors, prescriptions and expected costs. Specific 2027 carrier benefits must be checked against released plan documents.

Route one: Original Medicare with a Medigap policy. Original Medicare is federal Part A and Part B. You may add a Medicare Supplement policy to help with covered out-of-pocket costs and a separate Part D drug plan. Most Medigap policies work with any provider that accepts Medicare; Medicare SELECT policies have network rules. Premiums, coverage and eligibility vary.

Route two: Medicare Advantage. A private plan provides your Part A and Part B benefits and usually includes Part D. Some plans offer dental, vision, hearing or fitness benefits. Networks, referrals, prior authorization and cost-sharing vary. You must continue paying your Part B premium unless another program or a plan premium reduction helps pay it.

Compare both routes using your doctors, prescriptions, travel and budget. An O’Neal Insurance Group agent can explain represented options and help you decide whether a change is appropriate.

AEP for 2027: October 15–December 7, 2026

During Annual Enrollment, eligible members can join, switch or drop Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, with changes generally effective January 1, 2027. Call now to prepare your review; compare specific plans once their 2027 details are released.

For 2027, the standard Part D deductible is $700 and the annual out-of-pocket threshold for covered Part D drugs is $2,400. Premiums and non-covered drugs do not count toward that threshold. Plans may offer a lower deductible. Source: CMS 2027 Rate Announcement.

Medicare Advantage OEP: January 1–March 31, 2027

If you are already in Medicare Advantage, this period allows one switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or a return to Original Medicare with the option to join Part D. Coverage generally starts the next month. It is not a general standalone Part D switching window. Medigap has separate eligibility and enrollment protections.

Medicare reference charts

These reference charts explain Medicare’s parts and enrollment windows. The cost graphic is labeled 2026 for historical reference; use the 2027 Part D figures above and current official plan documents for your upcoming-year review.

Not sure where to start? Start here

A 2027 Medicare plan review starts with your situation: new eligibility, retirement, a coverage change or questions about next year’s benefits.

You are approaching 65. The decision is not really which plan. It is whether to take Part B now, and that depends on whether you are still working and how many people your employer has. Twenty or more and the group plan generally pays first. Fewer than twenty and Medicare pays first from the month you are eligible, which changes everything.

You are retiring or losing employer coverage. An eight-month window opens for Part B, and the forms need an employer signature. COBRA does not extend it, which surprises people every year.

Something changed. A move, a new diagnosis, a medication added, a doctor who has left your network. Any of those can turn last year’s sensible choice into this year’s wrong one.

The September letter worried you. Every Medicare Advantage and drug plan must send an Annual Notice of Change by September 30 setting out what differs from January 1. Bring it to your agent appointment so we can review the changes together.

Review medical coverage before extra benefits

Your 2027 plan needs to fit your doctors, prescriptions and budget. Supplemental benefits are worth reviewing after you understand the medical and drug coverage.

Ask about represented Medicare Advantage plans with dental, vision, hearing and fitness memberships. Compare covered services, annual limits, cost-sharing and participating providers or fitness locations.

A Part B give-back is a plan premium reduction, not a separate government cash payment. Flex cards are a way some plans administer restricted benefits. Amounts, permitted purchases and eligibility depend on the plan and service area.

Food and utility assistance is not available to every Medicare member. For benefits offered under SSBCI, the plan must confirm its eligibility criteria; a qualifying diagnosis alone does not guarantee approval. CMS explains the 2027 supplemental-benefit requirements.

You need a valid enrollment period to join or change Medicare Advantage or Part D. If you are considering returning to Original Medicare, check Medigap acceptance and effective dates first; underwriting may apply outside protected enrollment rights.

Three things to have ready

Whether you ring us, ring 1-800-MEDICARE or compare Medicare Plans yourself on Medicare.gov, the same three things decide the answer.

Your medications, with doses. Your doctors, by name, and the hospital you would want to use. And your county, confirmed rather than assumed, because plans are filed county by county and a recommendation from a friend a few miles away may name a plan that is not sold where you live.

Those details help your licensed agent compare represented plans accurately. Confirm provider and pharmacy participation directly before enrolling.

Ask about Extra Help with Part D costs and Medicare Savings Programs if your income and resources are limited. Government programs determine eligibility; an agent can point you to the application.

Help that earns nothing from your decision

Before you accept a recommendation from anyone, including us, it is worth knowing that free counseling exists. Every state runs a State Health Insurance Assistance Program staffed by counselors who sell nothing and earn nothing from what you choose. The national directory is at shiphelp.org, and 1-800-MEDICARE will also compare the Medicare Plans available at your address.

O’Neal Insurance Group offers personal help reviewing represented options, including Medicare choices alongside VA health care. VA and Medicare are separate programs. Check with VA or your benefits administrator before changing VA, TRICARE, CHAMPVA or other existing coverage.

Whichever route you take, review it each autumn rather than only when something goes wrong. Plans are re-filed every year, and the Medicare Plans that suited you in January can look different twelve months later. A short call each year catches the changes that would otherwise arrive as a surprise in February, and there is no fee for it.

If the plan you hold is still the right one, that is a perfectly good outcome and we will say so. Comparing Medicare Plans is worth doing annually; changing them is not.

Check any of this independently

You should never take an agency’s word for how Medicare Plans work, including ours. Each of these is free and sells nothing.

• Medicare.gov Plan Compare — every plan sold in your ZIP code, with star ratings and your prescriptions priced in
• SHIP National Technical Assistance Center — free one-to-one counseling in every state
• Social Security Administration — Extra Help with prescription drug costs
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners — look up any agent’s license and complaint history

Ready for a 2027 review? Call (877) 808-2900 or request an agent appointment. There is no additional fee for guidance and no obligation to enroll. We compare plans we represent and can direct you to official resources for other options.