Medicare 2026

Tucson Medicare 2027: your Oct. 15–Dec. 7 window to switch, drop or join a plan

TUCSON, Ariz. — Starting Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2026, people on Medicare in Tucson can review their coverage and make changes for next year. The Annual Enrollment Period runs through Sunday, Dec. 7, 2026, and any change you make during that window takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

This is the once-a-year chance for most people to swap their Medicare Advantage plan, join or drop a Part D drug plan, or move back to Original Medicare. If you like what you have and your plan is being offered again next year, you do not have to do anything — your coverage will renew with whatever changes are spelled out in your plan's Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), the booklet that arrives by late September.

What you can actually change between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7

The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) is broad on purpose. During the window you can:

• Join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time (if you already have Parts A and B).
• Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
• Drop your Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare (Parts A and B).
• Join a stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan, switch to a different one, or drop it.

If you make more than one change in the window, the last one you make by Dec. 7 is the one that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

One note for Tucson residents: CMS data for 2026 shows 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed in the Pima County landscape file. People who want drug coverage here generally get it through a Medicare Advantage plan that includes Part D — all 82 Medicare Advantage plans in the county include drug coverage. A licensed agent or SHIP counselor can walk you through what is available in your ZIP code on Medicare's Plan Finder.

What is new for 2027

A few program-wide numbers are already set for 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap moves to $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026). Once your out-of-pocket drug spending hits that amount, you pay $0 for covered Part D drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 (up from $615 in 2026). Individual plans can set a lower deductible.
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33. That is a formula number CMS uses, not the premium any specific plan charges.
• The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not been announced yet. CMS usually publishes them in November. Watch medicare.gov.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") is gone — it was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic. If paying for drugs in one lump at the pharmacy counter is hard, you can also opt into the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads your Part D out-of-pocket costs across the calendar year in monthly bills.

The Tucson picture at a glance

Tucson is in Pima County, where the 2026 CMS Medicare Advantage landscape lists 82 plans from 14 carriers. Of those, 42 are HMOs, 20 are HMO-POS plans and 20 are PPOs; 32 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) built for people with specific conditions, Medicaid eligibility, or nursing-home-level needs. The county is home to about 228,992 people age 65 and older.

The 14 carriers offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage in the area, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health), Alignment Health Plan, Banner Medicare Advantage, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), eternalHealth, Gold Kidney Health Plan, Humana, Mercy Care Advantage, SCAN Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan.

For 2027, the landscape in the Tucson area shifts a bit: 14 plans are not returning, 20 are new, and 12 are renamed. If your plan is one that is leaving, your insurer must send you a non-renewal notice, and you get a Special Enrollment Period to pick something else. If your plan is renamed or restructured, the details are in your Annual Notice of Change — read it before you decide.

What to do before Dec. 7

A simple checklist for Tucson households this fall:

1. Find your ANOC (Annual Notice of Change) and EOC (Evidence of Coverage) from your current plan. These show what is changing for 2027. 2. Make a list of your current prescriptions with doses, and your regular doctors and hospitals. 3. Think about what mattered this past year — a new diagnosis, a specialist you now see, a drug that got expensive. 4. Compare plans on medicare.gov's Plan Finder using your drug list and your ZIP code, or get free one-on-one help (see below). 5. If you make a change, keep the confirmation number and watch for your new plan's materials in December.

If you do nothing and your plan is being offered in 2027, you stay enrolled with the updated terms in the ANOC. Doing nothing is a valid choice — but it should be a deliberate one, not a surprise.

Where to get free, unbiased help in Tucson

In Arizona, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) is called SHIP Arizona, run through the Arizona Department of Economic Security's Division of Aging and Adult Services. SHIP counselors are trained volunteers who do not sell insurance and do not work on commission. They can sit down with your drug list and help you compare options.

• SHIP Arizona: 1-800-432-4040
• Pima Council on Aging (local Area Agency on Aging) also hosts Medicare counseling: 520-790-7262
• Medicare directly: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24/7
• Online: medicare.gov

One more date to put on the calendar: if you end up in a Medicare Advantage plan on Jan. 1, 2027, and it is not the right fit, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs Jan. 1 – March 31, 2027. During that window you get one chance to switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare (and pick up a stand-alone Part D plan).