Medicare 2026

Before Dec. 7: What Charlotte Medicare Users Can Change

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Starting Oct. 15, 2026, people with Medicare in Charlotte can review their coverage for 2027 and make changes that take effect Jan. 1. The Annual Enrollment Period, or AEP, closes Dec. 7, 2026. If you do nothing, your current plan simply rolls into next year with whatever changes your insurer spelled out in its Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) — the booklet that typically arrives in late September.

That makes the next several weeks a good time to sit down with your plan papers, your pill bottles, and a short list of the doctors you want to keep seeing. Charlotte sits in Mecklenburg County, where, according to the CMS 2026 Landscape, 94 Medicare Advantage plans are offered by 11 carriers — a wide field that rewards a careful look.

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

AEP is the one window every year when almost any Medicare coverage change is on the table. During the window you can:

• Join a Medicare Advantage plan (with or without drug coverage) 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 (Parts A and B).
• Join a stand-alone Part D drug plan, switch Part D plans, or drop Part D entirely.

Whatever change you make during the window starts Jan. 1, 2027. Only one change sticks — the last one you make before Dec. 7 is the one that takes effect.

If you are on Medicare Advantage and change your mind after Jan. 1, you also get the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 – March 31, 2027. In that window you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or drop it and return to Original Medicare (and pick up a Part D plan). You cannot use that spring window to move from Original Medicare into a Medicare Advantage plan.

Read your ANOC before you shop

The Annual Notice of Change is the most important piece of mail your plan sends all year. It lays out what will be different in 2027: the premium, the deductible, the copays for doctor visits and prescriptions, the provider and pharmacy networks, and the extra benefits like dental, vision or over-the-counter cards.

For Mecklenburg County, CMS records show 19 plans are not returning for 2027, 14 are new, and 10 have been renamed. "Not returning" means the plan will not be sold next year; if yours is one of them, your insurer must notify you, and you will have a Special Enrollment Period to pick something else. "Renamed" does not mean the plan is gone — it may be the same contract under a new label, with its own set of 2027 changes in the ANOC.

The local lineup, in plain terms

The table below lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in Mecklenburg County for 2026, by carrier. Of the 94 plans, 32 are HMOs, 26 are HMO-POS, 35 are PPOs, and one is a PFFS. All 94 include drug coverage, and 38 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) — plans built for people with certain chronic conditions, people who live in a nursing home, or people who have both Medicare and Medicaid.

Carriers offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage in the county include Aetna (CVS Health), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, HealthTeam Advantage, Humana, Liberty Medicare Advantage, Longevity Health Plan, Provider Partners Health Plans, and UnitedHealthcare. The number of plans each carrier offers varies widely; the table shows the breakdown.

A quick note on stand-alone Part D: CMS's 2026 Landscape data for the area shows no stand-alone Part D plans listed, but national Part D plans are typically available statewide. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov will show you the drug plans you can join by ZIP code.

The 2027 numbers CMS has already published

A few Part D figures for 2027 are set:

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

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets that add a surcharge for higher-income enrollees, have not yet been announced. CMS usually publishes those numbers in November. (For 2026, IRMAA begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer.)

If prescription costs are a strain, ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. It is a free option that lets you spread your Part D out-of-pocket costs across the calendar year in monthly bills instead of paying the full amount at the pharmacy counter.

How to decide — a short checklist

There is no "best" plan — only the plan that fits your doctors, drugs and budget. A simple way to work through it:

1. Make a current list of your prescriptions (name, dose, how often). 2. Make a list of the doctors and hospitals you want to keep. Atrium Health and Novant Health are the two largest systems in the Charlotte area; network status can change year to year. 3. Pull up your ANOC and highlight anything that is changing in 2027. 4. Go to medicare.gov/plan-compare, enter your ZIP code and drug list, and compare side by side. 5. If you qualify for Medicaid or Extra Help (the low-income subsidy for Part D), check whether a Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) fits your situation.

If you want Medigap (Medicare Supplement) instead, note that Medigap works only with Original Medicare, not with Medicare Advantage. Outside of your original 6-month Medigap open enrollment window, in North Carolina insurers can use medical underwriting, which is a separate conversation worth having with a licensed advisor or SHIIP.

Where to get free, unbiased help in Charlotte

You do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not have to pay for help:

• SHIIP (Seniors' Health Insurance Information Program) is North Carolina's State Health Insurance Assistance Program. SHIIP counselors are trained volunteers who do not sell insurance. Call 1-855-408-1212 or visit ncdoi.gov/SHIIP to find a counselor near Charlotte.
• Mecklenburg County Community Resource Centers and local senior centers often host SHIIP sessions during AEP — call 311 or 704-336-7600 to ask what is scheduled.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24/7.
• medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder and your personal "MyMedicare" account.