Medicare 2026

Tucson Medicare for 2027: the Part D numbers CMS has set, and the ones it hasn't

Tucson, Ariz. — Annual Enrollment for 2027 Medicare coverage runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026, and CMS has already locked in part of the picture — the Part D drug numbers — while leaving the Part B side for a later fall announcement. If you live in or near Tucson, here is what is confirmed, what is still pending, and the one piece of mail that will tell you more about your own plan than any news story can.

What CMS has confirmed for 2027

Three Part D figures are locked in for next year:

• Out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once your covered drug costs hit that number, you pay $0 for covered Part D drugs the rest of the year.
• Maximum Part D deductible: $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. Plans can set a lower deductible, but not a higher one.
• National base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. This is a formula number CMS uses behind the scenes — it is not what any specific plan charges you.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") is gone, as it has been since 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic. And the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the option to spread your drug costs across the year in monthly payments — is still available if that helps with cash flow.

What CMS has not announced yet

Two important numbers for 2027 are still pending:

• The Part B standard premium and deductible. CMS usually publishes these in November.
• The IRMAA income brackets and surcharges that decide whether higher earners pay more for Part B and Part D. These come out with the Part B figures.

Be cautious about any article or ad that quotes a "2027 Part B premium" right now — until CMS publishes the official figures, those are projections, not facts. We will update our coverage when the real numbers post.

The ANOC letter is the most important piece of mail you'll get

By the end of September, every Medicare Advantage and stand-alone Part D plan has to send its members an Annual Notice of Change. It is usually a thick envelope. Inside is a side-by-side of what your plan covers in 2026 versus what it will cover in 2027 — premium, deductible, drug tiers, copays, provider network, extra benefits, and whether the plan is even being offered next year.

A few things to look for:

• Is the plan still being offered in Pima County in 2027? (Some plans in the area are not returning.)
• Did your plan's name change? (Renaming is common and does not necessarily mean anything else changed.)
• Are your regular prescriptions still on the formulary, and on the same tier?
• Are your doctors and preferred hospitals still in-network?

If nothing in the ANOC concerns you, you do not have to do anything — your plan renews automatically on Jan. 1, 2027. If something does concern you, you have until Dec. 7 to switch.

How plan availability is moving locally

Tucson is in Pima County, where CMS lists 82 Medicare Advantage plans from 14 carriers for plan year 2026, all of them with drug coverage included. Of those 82, 32 are Special Needs Plans (for people with specific chronic conditions, dual Medicare-Medicaid eligibility, or who live in a nursing home). The mix is 42 HMOs, 20 HMO-POS plans, and 20 PPOs.

Looking ahead to 2027 in the county: 14 plans are not returning, 20 are new, and 12 have been renamed. CMS does not let us tell you what a specific named plan is changing — your ANOC does that — but the shape of the lineup is shifting.

One Tucson-specific note: CMS lists no stand-alone Part D plans in the Pima County MA Landscape data (stand-alone PDPs are sold by region and are listed separately on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder). If you have Original Medicare and want drug coverage, you will still find PDP options there.

The table below lists every 2026 Medicare Advantage plan offered in Pima County, grouped by carrier — from Aetna, 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.

How to decide what to do by Dec. 7

A simple sequence most people can follow:

1. Open the ANOC. Flip to the comparison chart. 2. List your prescriptions and your doctors. Check them against your 2027 plan documents. 3. Think about the Part D cap. If you take expensive drugs, the new $2,400 cap in 2027 matters — but only your plan's formulary tells you what you'll pay to get there. 4. Compare on Medicare.gov. The Plan Finder lets you enter your drugs and pharmacies and see every plan available in your ZIP code side by side. 5. Get free, unbiased help from Arizona's SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program), which does not sell plans.

Pima County has 228,992 residents aged 65 or older, which is why so many carriers compete here — but it also means a lot of mail, a lot of ads, and a lot of noise between now and Dec. 7. The ANOC and Medicare.gov cut through most of it.