Medicare 2026

Greenwood Medicare: your fall 2026 checklist before the Dec. 7 cutoff

GREENWOOD, Ind. — The window to adjust Medicare coverage for 2027 opens October 15, 2026 and closes December 7, 2026. Any change made in that stretch takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan simply rolls over into next year with whatever updates your insurer spelled out in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) mailed to you in September.

That mailer, plus a quick look at your prescriptions and your doctors, is really the whole assignment this fall.

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

The Annual Enrollment Period is the one time of year nearly every person on Medicare can make a coverage change, no questions asked. During the window you can:

• Join a Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan, switch to a different one, or drop it and return to Original Medicare.
• Join a stand-alone Part D drug plan, switch to a different one, or drop drug coverage.
• Move from Original Medicare into a Medicare Advantage plan.

Whichever change you make, the new coverage starts January 1, 2027. If you submit more than one election during the window, the last one on file is what takes effect.

One important footnote: switching from a Medicare Advantage plan back to Original Medicare is straightforward, but buying a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy to pair with Original Medicare is a separate decision governed by state rules, and outside your initial Medigap open enrollment, insurers in Indiana can use medical underwriting. Call the SHIP before you drop a plan if Medigap is part of your plan.

What is on the table in Greenwood

Greenwood sits in Johnson County, where CMS lists 71 Medicare Advantage plans for the current plan year, offered by 10 carriers. Zero stand-alone Part D plans are listed in the county's data file, which generally reflects how CMS counts contracts in a given area — most Johnson County residents who want drug coverage get it bundled with a Medicare Advantage plan (an MA-PD). About 26,185 Johnson County residents are age 65 or older, so this is a decision many of your neighbors are working through right now.

Those counts are plan availability only. They are not a ranking, and they do not tell you which plan fits your prescriptions, doctors or budget. CMS's Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is the tool built to narrow 71 options down to the handful that match your situation.

The 2027 numbers CMS has confirmed

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

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap will be $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs reaches that cap, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible will be $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. Plans can set a lower deductible but not a higher one.
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium is $41.33 for 2027. That is a formula input CMS uses — not what any particular plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets for higher earners, have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes those figures later in the fall, usually in November. We will update readers when they are released.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, if drug bills are uneven

If a prescription hits you with a big one-time bill early in the year, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread what you owe across the calendar year in level monthly payments to your plan, instead of paying the pharmacy up front. It does not change what the drug costs — just when you pay. You can opt in through your Part D or MA-PD plan.

How to work through this at home

A simple sequence that works for most households:

1. Pull out your plan's Annual Notice of Change (the ANOC that arrived in September). Flip to the pages that list premium, deductible, drug tier changes, and any provider network changes for 2027. 2. Make a current list of your prescriptions with doses, and a list of the doctors and hospitals you want to keep. 3. Run both lists through the Plan Finder at medicare.gov, which will show you how each available plan would cover them next year. 4. If anything is unclear — especially network questions or Medigap timing — call before you enroll.

Where to get free, unbiased help in Greenwood

You do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not have to work through a sales call to get answers.

• SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) — Indiana's SHIP offers free one-on-one counseling with trained volunteers who do not sell insurance. Call 1-800-452-4800 or visit medicare.in.gov.
• Medicare — 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24/7, or medicare.gov to use Plan Finder and view your own account.
• Social Security — 1-800-772-1213 for Part B enrollment questions and Extra Help with drug costs.
• Johnson County Public Library branches in Greenwood often host SHIP sessions during AEP; call ahead for the schedule.