Medicare 2026

Portland Medicare in 2027: the Part D figures CMS has locked, and what's still pending

Portland, Ore. — If you are on Medicare in Portland this fall, 2027 is already partly in focus. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the key Part D numbers for next year, your plan's Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) is landing in mailboxes now, and the Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026. A choice you make in that window takes effect January 1, 2027.

But the picture is only half drawn. The 2027 Part B premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not been released yet — CMS usually announces those later in the fall. Here is what Portland residents can actually weigh right now, and what to wait on.

What CMS has confirmed for 2027

Three Part D numbers are locked in for next year, and they apply to every Part D plan nationally — whether it is a stand-alone drug plan or the drug coverage built into a Medicare Advantage plan.

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $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 calendar year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. This is the ceiling; some plans set a lower deductible.
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. This is a formula input CMS uses — it is not what any particular plan charges.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") remains gone, as it has been since 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.

What CMS has not announced yet

Two numbers Portland readers often ask about are still pending for 2027:

• The 2027 Part B standard premium and the Part B annual deductible.
• The 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharge amounts, which decide whether higher-income beneficiaries pay more for Part B and Part D.

CMS typically releases these in the fall, often in November. We will not estimate them here, and we would be cautious about any site that does. For reference, in 2026 IRMAA surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer.

The Annual Notice of Change: read this one letter

Every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan has to send members an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by late September. It spells out, for your specific plan, what is different in 2027: the premium, deductible, drug tiers, provider network, extra benefits, and whether the plan is being discontinued or renamed.

If you only read one piece of mail this fall, make it the ANOC. It is the single document that tells you how your plan — not Medicare in general — is changing.

A few practical things to check:

• Is the plan still being offered in 2027?
• Did your prescriptions move to a different tier, or come off the formulary?
• Are your doctors and preferred pharmacy still in-network?
• Did the plan rename? A rename does not always mean the benefits shifted, but it is worth comparing side by side.

The Portland picture: what is on the shelf

Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. Portland sits mostly in Multnomah County, where 58 Medicare Advantage plans from 13 carriers are offered for 2026, all with drug coverage included. By plan type, that breaks down to 18 HMO, 15 HMO-POS, and 25 PPO plans, with 15 Special Needs Plans among them. Multnomah County has 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed in the 2026 Landscape — Part D for most Portland residents comes bundled inside an MA-PD.

For 2027, the county's lineup shifts: 18 plans are not returning, 5 are new, and 7 have been renamed. If your plan is one of the 18 not returning, you will get a non-renewal notice and have a Special Enrollment Period to choose a replacement.

The carriers offering Medicare Advantage in the county for 2026 include Aetna (CVS Health), AgeRight Advantage, ATRIO Health Plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), CareOregon Advantage, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, PacificSource Medicare, Providence Medicare Advantage Plans, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan.

How to use the window — without pressure

The Annual Enrollment Period is a window, not a deadline you have to hit on day one. From October 15 through December 7, 2026, you can:

• Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, or back.
• Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
• Join, drop, or change a Part D drug plan.

If you take no action, your plan simply renews for 2027 (if it is still offered), with the changes in your ANOC. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, 2027, you also get the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027 to make one additional change.

One tool worth knowing about: the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter. It does not lower your total — it smooths the timing. You can opt in at any time through your Part D or MA-PD plan.

Where to get personalized help

For questions about your own situation — doctors, drugs, income, or whether a plan change makes sense — talk to a neutral source:

• medicare.gov has the Plan Finder, which compares plans using your drug list and pharmacy.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is available 24/7.
• SHIBA, Oregon's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), offers free one-on-one counseling. Call 1-800-722-4134 or visit shiba.oregon.gov.