Medicare 2026

Detroit Medicare Annual Enrollment: your window to reset coverage for 2027

DETROIT — October 2026. The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period opens Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7, 2026. Anything you change in that window — joining a plan, switching plans, or dropping back to Original Medicare — starts Jan. 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews for next year, as long as it is still offered, with whatever changes are spelled out in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your insurer mailed in late September.

That is the whole deal, and it is worth taking seriously because 2027 brings some real program changes you will want to understand before you decide.

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

The Annual Enrollment Period is the one time of year most people on Medicare can make almost any change they want. 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 go back to Original Medicare (Parts A and B).
• Join a stand-alone Part D drug plan, switch Part D plans, or drop Part D.

Whatever you pick becomes your coverage on Jan. 1, 2027. If you make more than one change during the window, the last one you submit by Dec. 7 is the one that counts.

One note for Wayne County specifically: for the 2026 plan year, CMS lists no stand-alone Part D plans in the local Landscape file, while every Medicare Advantage plan in the county includes drug coverage. If your prescription coverage comes through a Medicare Advantage plan, your Part D choice and your Advantage choice are the same decision.

Read your ANOC before you shop

Every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan sends an Annual Notice of Change each fall. It is the single most useful piece of mail you will get this season. It shows, side by side, what changes for 2027: the premium, the deductible, the drug tiers, the provider or pharmacy network, and extra benefits.

If your plan is not being offered in 2027, your ANOC and a separate non-renewal letter will say so. In Wayne County, 16 plans are not returning for 2027, 12 are new, and 5 have been renamed. The ANOC is where you will see what applies to your plan.

What is confirmed for 2027 — and what is not

CMS has published a few key Part D numbers for 2027:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027 (it is $2,100 in 2026).
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (it is $615 in 2026).
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. That is a formula input CMS uses — not what any particular plan charges.

The coverage gap, often called the "donut hole," has been gone since 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic (where you pay nothing more for covered drugs after you hit the yearly cap). The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available if you want to spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.

A few things are not out yet. CMS usually announces the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible in November, along with the 2027 IRMAA income brackets that add surcharges for higher-income beneficiaries. For reference, in 2026, IRMAA begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer. We will update readers once CMS publishes the 2027 figures.

Detroit's local picture

Detroit sits in Wayne County, where plan availability is set. For 2026, the county has:

• 90 Medicare Advantage plans offered by 16 carriers.
• By plan type: 31 HMOs, 18 HMO-POS plans, and 41 PPOs.
• 21 of the plans are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) for people with specific conditions, dual Medicare-Medicaid eligibility, or who live in an institution.
• All 90 Medicare Advantage plans include drug coverage.

Carriers offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage in the area for 2026 include Aetna (CVS Health), Align Senior Care, AmeriHealth Caritas VIP Care, Blue Care Network, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Centene (WellCare), HAP CareSource MI Coordinated Health, Health Alliance Plan by Henry Ford Health, Humana, Longevity Health Plan, McLaren Medicare, Molina Healthcare of Michigan, Priority Health Medicare, Trinity Health Plan of Michigan, UnitedHealthcare, and Zing Health. The table below lists every plan by carrier so you can see what is sold here. We cannot tell you which to choose — that depends on your doctors, your prescriptions, and your budget.

For nearly 293,500 people age 65 and older in Wayne County, that is a lot of options to sort through. Which is exactly why free, local help exists.

Where to get unbiased local help

A licensed agent can help you shop, but they are usually paid by the plans they sell. If you want a neutral set of eyes on your situation, use these:

• MMAP (Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program) is Michigan's SHIP — the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. Counseling is free and the counselors do not sell insurance. Call 1-800-803-7174 or visit mmapinc.org to find a counselor in Wayne County.
• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder, where you can enter your ZIP code and prescriptions and compare every plan available to you.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24/7 for enrollment questions.

A good practice: have your Medicare card, your prescription list (with doses), and your preferred doctors and pharmacies on hand before you call or sit down with a counselor.

Dates to keep in mind

• Oct. 15, 2026 — AEP opens.
• Dec. 7, 2026 — AEP closes. Your choice is locked in for Jan. 1.
• Jan. 1, 2027 — New coverage begins.
• Jan. 1 – March 31, 2027 — Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan on Jan. 1, you get one chance in this window to switch to a different Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare (with a Part D plan).