Medicare 2026

Nashville Medicare enrollment for 2027: your window, your choices, and where to get free help

NASHVILLE — The fall window for making 2027 Medicare decisions opens October 15, 2026, and closes December 7, 2026. Anything you change in that stretch — joining, switching or dropping a Medicare Advantage plan, picking up or dropping Part D drug coverage, or going back to Original Medicare — takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews into next year with whatever updates are spelled out in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your plan mailed in September.

That is the whole shape of the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), and it is the same every year. What is different this year, in Davidson County, is the lineup you are choosing from and the dollar figures Medicare has set for 2027.

The dates, in plain English

The AEP is October 15 through December 7, 2026. The latest change you make in that window is the one that sticks for January 1, 2027. If you switch plans on October 20 and change your mind on December 1, the December change is what starts your year.

There is a second, narrower window after AEP: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you can make one switch during that period — to a different Advantage plan or back to Original Medicare (with a Part D plan). It is a cleanup window, not a redo of AEP.

Exactly what you can change

During AEP, a Nashville resident on Medicare can:

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

A note specific to Davidson County: CMS's 2026 data shows no stand-alone Part D plans listed for the county, while all 74 Medicare Advantage plans in the area include drug coverage. If drug coverage matters to you and you want to stay on Original Medicare, this is a point worth raising with a SHIP counselor before December 7.

What the lineup looks like locally

Nashville is in Davidson County, where 74 Medicare Advantage plans from 13 carriers are offered for 2026, according to the CMS Landscape file. For 2027, 14 plans are not returning, 9 are new, and 9 have been renamed. Your plan's ANOC spells out whether yours is one of them and what is changing.

Carriers offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage in the county include Abilis Health, Aetna (CVS Health), American Health Advantage of Tennessee, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), BlueCare Plus Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, NHC Advantage, UnitedHealthcare and Zing Health. The table below lists every plan available in the county, along with its plan type and whether it includes drug coverage.

We cannot tell you which plan to pick, and we are not allowed to rank them. What we can tell you is that plan type (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO) affects how networks and referrals work, and that any plan can change its premium, drug list or provider network from one year to the next — which is why reading the ANOC matters.

The 2027 figures Medicare has already set

CMS has confirmed these Part D numbers for 2027:

• 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 the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Plans can set a lower deductible, but not higher.
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. This is a formula input Medicare uses — not what any specific plan charges.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter, continues in 2027. You can opt in through your plan.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not yet been announced. CMS typically releases them in the fall, usually November. We will not estimate them.

Where to get free, unbiased help in Nashville

You do not have to sort this out alone, and you do not have to call an agent to do it.

• SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) in Tennessee is called SHIP-TN and is run through the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability. SHIP counselors are trained volunteers who do not sell plans and do not earn commissions. They can sit with you, go through your drugs and doctors, and walk through Plan Finder with you. Reach SHIP-TN at 1-877-801-0044.
• Medicare.gov Plan Finder lets you enter your prescriptions, preferred pharmacies and doctors, and compare every plan available at your ZIP code side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Social Security (1-800-772-1213) handles Part B enrollment and Extra Help applications.

With roughly 92,450 Nashville-area residents age 65 and older, SHIP's schedule fills up as December 7 approaches. If you want a counselor's time, call sooner rather than later.