Medicare 2026

Baltimore Medicare enrollment for 2027: your window, your choices, your local help

BALTIMORE — The yearly window to change Medicare coverage for 2027 opens October 15, 2026 and closes December 7, 2026. Anything you switch, join, or drop during those eight weeks takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan rolls into next year with whatever changes are spelled out in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your insurer mailed in September.

That is the whole shape of the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), and in Baltimore it matters a little more this fall. Baltimore is in Baltimore city, where CMS lists 31 Medicare Advantage plans from 10 carriers for 2026, and the 2027 lineup brings 9 plans not returning, 2 new plans, and 1 renamed plan. If your plan is one of the ones leaving, your ANOC will say so.

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

The AEP is the one window every year when every person with Medicare can make these moves:

• Join a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), switch from one Advantage plan to another, or drop Advantage and return to Original Medicare (Parts A and B).
• Join a stand-alone Part D drug plan, switch to a different one, or drop Part D entirely.
• Pair a return to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan so your prescriptions stay covered.

What AEP does not do: it does not guarantee you a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy. Medigap has its own rules in Maryland, and outside your one-time open enrollment, insurers can use medical underwriting. If you are thinking about leaving Advantage for Original Medicare plus a Medigap, call before you cancel anything.

When the new coverage starts

Every change you make during AEP has the same effective date: January 1, 2027. There is no "earlier is better" from a coverage standpoint — a plan you pick on October 20 and a plan you pick on December 6 both start the same day. What earlier does buy you is time to double-check that your doctors and medications are covered.

If you miss December 7 and later wish you had switched, you still have one more chance: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 – March 31, 2027. In that window, people already in a Medicare Advantage plan can change to a different one, or drop it and return to Original Medicare (with Part D if they want it). It is narrower than AEP — it is not a time to shop Part D on its own.

What is confirmed for 2027, and what is not

CMS has published a few 2027 numbers already:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026.
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33. That is a formula input Medicare uses, not the premium any particular plan charges.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") is gone — since 2025, Part D has three phases. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available if you want to spread drug costs across the year in level monthly amounts.

Not yet announced: the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets. CMS typically publishes these in the fall, usually in November. Any number you see online before CMS releases them is an estimate, not an official figure.

The Baltimore picture

For 2026, Baltimore city has 31 Medicare Advantage plans from 10 carriers, and all 31 include drug coverage. By type, that is 25 HMOs, 3 HMO-POS and 3 PPOs, and 17 of the 31 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) — plans built for people with Medicaid as well as Medicare, specific chronic conditions, or who live in a nursing home.

One quirk of this area: CMS's 2026 landscape shows 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed for Baltimore city in the Medicare Advantage landscape file. Stand-alone Part D plans do serve Maryland — you can see the full list on Medicare's Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare, which is the right tool if you plan to stay on Original Medicare and want drug coverage.

The carriers offering Medicare Advantage locally for 2026 include Alterwood Advantage, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Advantage DualPrime, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Medicare Advantage, Communicare Advantage, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, KeyCare Advantage, Provider Partners Health Plans and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

For 2027, 9 plans are not returning, 2 are new and 1 is renamed. If your plan is on the "not returning" list, your ANOC letter will tell you — and you will need to pick something else during AEP, or Medicare will enroll you in Original Medicare on January 1.

Where to get free, unbiased help in Baltimore

You do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not have to call an agent to get answers.

• Maryland SHIP (the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, run through the Maryland Department of Aging) offers free one-on-one counseling. SHIP counselors do not sell plans and are not paid by insurers. Call 1-800-243-3425 to find a Baltimore-area counselor.
• The Baltimore City Commission on Aging and Retirement Education (CARE) can connect residents with local SHIP help and other senior services.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24/7 for questions straight from Medicare.
• medicare.gov/plan-compare lets you plug in your prescriptions, pharmacy and doctors and compare every plan available at your ZIP code.

Have your Medicare number, your current plan name, and your list of prescriptions ready before you call or sit down with a counselor. It makes the appointment far shorter.