Medicare 2026

Fort Worth Medicare in 2027: the Part D figures CMS has locked, and what still comes this fall

Fort Worth, Texas — If you are on Medicare in Tarrant County, the Annual Enrollment Period that runs October 15 through December 7, 2026 is when you decide what your coverage looks like on January 1, 2027. Some of the 2027 numbers are already set in stone. Others will not land until later this fall. Here is what Fort Worth residents can actually plan around today — and what to wait on before making a final call.

The 2027 Part D figures CMS has already confirmed

Three numbers for 2027 are locked in and apply nationwide, including here in Fort Worth:

• 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 year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. A plan can set its deductible lower, but not higher.
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. This is a formula input CMS uses — it is not what any specific plan charges you.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the option to spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments — continues to be available.

What CMS has not announced yet

As of early fall 2026, two big pieces are still pending:

• The 2027 Part B standard premium and Part B deductible. CMS normally publishes these in the fall, usually in November.
• The 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges, which affect higher-income enrollees. These come out alongside the Part B numbers.

If you see a specific 2027 Part B premium quoted somewhere right now, treat it as an estimate — the official figure comes from CMS later in the fall. For reference, IRMAA surcharges in 2026 begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer.

Your most important piece of mail: the Annual Notice of Change

If you are already in a Medicare Advantage or stand-alone Part D plan, your insurer was required to send you an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by the end of September. It is the single most useful document you will get this season.

The ANOC compares your 2026 coverage with your 2027 coverage from the same plan — premium, deductible, copays, drug formulary tier changes, provider network updates, extra benefits added or dropped. If something matters to you (a specific medication, a specific doctor, a specific hospital), that is where you check first.

If you cannot find your ANOC, call your plan's member services number on the back of your card and ask them to resend it.

How the plan lineup is moving in Tarrant County

Fort Worth is in Tarrant County, where Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. For plan year 2026, the county has 89 Medicare Advantage plans from 12 carriers, and all of those plans include drug coverage. Of the 89, 36 are HMOs, 20 are HMO-POS, 31 are PPOs, and 2 are PFFS plans. There are 36 Special Needs Plans for people who qualify (chronic condition, dual Medicare-Medicaid, or institutional).

Heading into 2027 in this area, 28 plans are not returning, 22 are new, and 10 have been renamed. That does not tell you what any one plan did — only the ANOC does — but it does tell you the lineup is moving, and it is worth a look even if you have been happy for years.

The carriers offering MA-PD plans in Tarrant County for 2026 include Aetna (CVS Health), American Health Advantage of Texas, Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Centene (WellCare), Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Molina Healthcare of Texas, ProCare Advantage, Provider Partners Health Plans, Texas Independence Health Plan, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan available in the county by carrier.

One county-specific note: there are 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed in the Tarrant County MA Landscape file. If you have Original Medicare and want drug coverage, you will still find PDPs through Medicare's Plan Finder — stand-alone PDPs are sold on a separate state-wide list, not through the county MA landscape.

A simple way to use the AEP window

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 – December 7, 2026. A change made in that window takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, and your current plan is offered next year, it simply renews with its ANOC changes.

A reasonable order of operations:

1. Read your ANOC when it arrives. 2. Make a short list of what has to keep working — your doctors, your hospital, the three or four prescriptions you actually take, and any benefit you use regularly. 3. Check that list against your renewing plan first. If it still fits, you are done. 4. If it does not fit, use Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov to compare, or call 1-800-MEDICARE.

Medicare Advantage enrollees get a second window: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027, during which you can make one change if your January 1 choice is not working out.

Where to get unbiased help in Fort Worth

For personalized guidance, Texas has a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — in Texas it is run as the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), through the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and local Area Agencies on Aging. Their counselors do not sell plans. You can reach them at 1-800-252-9240.