Medicare 2026

Before Dec. 7, 2026: Your Boston Medicare Choices

BOSTON — The fall sign-up window for 2027 Medicare coverage opens Oct. 15, 2026, and closes Dec. 7, 2026. Anything you decide during those eight weeks takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews for next year — assuming it's still offered — with whatever changes the insurer spelled out in your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC).

That's the big picture for Boston residents on Medicare. Below is what you can actually change in the window, what's new for 2027, and where to get free, unbiased help without a sales pitch.

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

The Annual Enrollment Period is the one time of year almost everyone with Medicare can make a change. During the window, you can:

• Join a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C) for the first time, if you have Parts A and B.
• Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
• Drop a Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare.
• Join a stand-alone Part D drug plan, switch Part D plans, or drop Part D.

Whichever change you make, the new coverage begins Jan. 1, 2027. You don't need to cancel your old plan separately — enrolling in a new one usually ends the old one automatically.

If you miss Dec. 7, there is a second, narrower window: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, Jan. 1 – March 31, 2027. During that time, people already in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a different one or go back to Original Medicare (and pick up a Part D plan). It is not a window for people on Original Medicare to jump into Advantage.

What's actually different for 2027

A few program-level numbers are already confirmed by CMS for 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026.
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33. That's a formula input CMS uses — it is not what any specific plan charges.

A couple of 2027 numbers are not out yet. The standard Part B premium and deductible, and the IRMAA income brackets that trigger higher Part B and Part D surcharges, are usually announced by CMS in November. Ignore anyone quoting a hard 2027 Part B figure before CMS posts it.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") has been gone since 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic — and once you hit the out-of-pocket cap, covered drugs cost you $0 the rest of the year. If paying at the pharmacy counter is tight, ask your plan about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments at no extra charge.

Boston's lineup: what the numbers look like

Boston is in Suffolk County, where CMS lists 52 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 carriers for 2026, with 10 carriers offering MA plans that include drug coverage. By plan type, that's 31 HMO plans, 5 HMO-POS plans and 16 PPO plans, with 16 of the 52 designed as Special Needs Plans for people who, for example, have both Medicare and MassHealth.

For 2027, CMS data show 14 plans are not returning, 12 are new, and 3 are being renamed. If your current plan is one that isn't returning, you'll get a non-renewal notice from your insurer and you'll need to pick something else during AEP or you'll default back to Original Medicare on Jan. 1, 2027. If your plan is returning, the ANOC your insurer mailed in late September tells you exactly what's changing — premium, drug list, copays, networks, extra benefits.

A note on stand-alone Part D: CMS currently shows 0 stand-alone Part D plans in the Suffolk County landscape file we're using, which can shift once CMS finalizes the 2027 landscape. Use the Plan Finder at medicare.gov to see the stand-alone drug plans available at your ZIP code when you shop.

The table below lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in Suffolk County, by carrier, from Aetna through UnitedHealthcare, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Commonwealth Care Alliance, eternalHealth, Fallon Health, Humana, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of Massachusetts and Tufts Health Plan in between. We're not ranking them and we're not attaching costs or benefits to names here — that's what the ANOC and the Plan Finder are for.

How to actually compare plans

A good AEP review takes about an hour. Have these on hand:

• Your current plan's ANOC (mailed each September).
• A list of your prescriptions, with doses.
• A list of your doctors and preferred hospitals.
• Your Medicare number.

Then on medicare.gov, use the Plan Finder. Enter your ZIP code and your drugs, and it will show you each plan's total estimated yearly cost — premium plus drugs plus typical cost sharing — plus the pharmacies in network. That total cost number matters far more than the sticker premium.

If you want human help, you do not have to call a broker. Massachusetts has two free, unbiased channels:

• SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone) is the Massachusetts version of the federal SHIP program. SHINE counselors are trained and certified by the state, don't sell insurance, and will sit with you — in person, by phone or by video — to compare options. In Boston, SHINE is coordinated through the Executive Office of Elder Affairs; call 1-800-AGE-INFO (1-800-243-4636) and ask for SHINE, or visit mass.gov/shine.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24/7, for federal-level questions and to make enrollment changes directly over the phone.

What happens if you do nothing

Nothing dramatic. If your plan is being offered again in 2027, you stay on it, with the changes listed in the ANOC. If your plan is one of the 14 Suffolk County plans not returning, you'll roll back to Original Medicare on Jan. 1 unless you've picked a new plan — and you'll want a Part D plan in place to avoid a late-enrollment penalty down the road.

The window closes Dec. 7, 2026. Mark it, but don't panic over it.