Medicare 2026

San Antonio Medicare in 2027: the Part D figures CMS has locked, and what's still coming

San Antonio, Texas — Fall 2026. If you have Medicare and live in or near San Antonio, this is the season when next year's coverage takes shape. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make during that window starts January 1, 2027. Some 2027 numbers are already set in stone by CMS. Others — the ones that get the most headlines — are still on the way.

Here is a plain-English look at what's confirmed, what isn't, and how to read the one letter from your plan that matters most right now.

What CMS has already confirmed for 2027

Three Part D figures are locked in for next year, and they apply to every Part D plan in the country — including the drug coverage built into Medicare Advantage plans sold here in Bexar County.

• 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 number, 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 none can set a higher one.
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. This is a formula input CMS uses behind the scenes — it is not what any particular plan charges you.

The coverage gap, often called the "donut hole," was eliminated in 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the option that lets you spread your drug costs over monthly installments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter — continues to be available.

What CMS has not announced yet

A few of the numbers people ask about the most are still pending. CMS typically publishes these later in the fall, often in November:

• The 2027 Part B standard premium
• The 2027 Part B deductible
• The 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges (the higher Part B and Part D amounts paid by higher-income beneficiaries)

Until CMS releases those figures, we won't publish an estimate, and you should be cautious of anyone who does. For reference, in 2026 IRMAA surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer. The 2027 thresholds will shift when CMS announces them.

Read your Annual Notice of Change first

By late September, your current Medicare Advantage or Part D plan should have mailed you an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). This is the single most important document you'll get this fall. It compares your 2026 plan to the same plan in 2027 and lays out:

• Changes to the monthly premium, deductible, and copays
• Changes to the drug formulary (what's covered and at which tier)
• Changes to the provider or pharmacy network
• Changes to extra benefits like dental, vision, hearing, or over-the-counter allowances
• Whether the plan is being renamed, consolidated, or discontinued

If you do nothing, and your plan is still offered in 2027, you stay enrolled with the changes described in the ANOC. Nothing happens automatically to penalize you — your coverage simply renews as described in that letter.

How the local lineup is shifting in Bexar County

San Antonio is in Bexar County, where plan availability is set at the county level. For 2026, Bexar County has 100 Medicare Advantage plans from 15 carriers, and all 100 include drug coverage. By plan type, that breaks down into 52 HMOs, 15 HMO-POS, 31 PPOs, and 2 PFFS plans, with 41 of them designated as Special Needs Plans (SNPs) for people with specific conditions, dual Medicare-Medicaid eligibility, or who live in institutions.

For the 2027 plan year here in Bexar County:

• 28 plans are not returning for 2027
• 26 new plans are being introduced
• 11 plans are being renamed

If your current plan is one that isn't returning, your plan is required to notify you, and you'll have a Special Enrollment Period to choose a replacement. If your plan is simply being renamed, that is a cosmetic change — but still check the ANOC, because benefits can shift at the same time.

The table below lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in Bexar County, grouped by carrier — from Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Centene (WellCare), through Humana and UnitedHealthcare, to smaller local options like Community First and Texas Independence Health Plan. Use it to see what's offered; use the ANOC and medicare.gov's Plan Finder to compare the details that apply to you.

One note on stand-alone Part D: in Bexar County's 2026 landscape, every Medicare Advantage plan already includes drug coverage, so most San Antonians getting drug coverage through Medicare Advantage won't need a separate PDP. If you have Original Medicare, you'll want to confirm your Part D plan's 2027 details in its own ANOC.

What to do between now and December 7

You have time. The deadline is December 7, 2026, and nothing you do before then takes effect until January 1, 2027. A sensible order of operations:

1. Open your ANOC and read the sections on premium, drugs, and network. 2. Make a short list of your prescriptions and your doctors. 3. Go to medicare.gov and use the Plan Finder — it lets you enter your drugs and ZIP code and see how plans in Bexar County stack up for your specific situation. 4. If you want personal help, call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), or contact Texas's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), called the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) in Texas, through the Texas Health and Human Services benefits counseling line. SHIP counseling is free and does not sell anything.

If you miss December 7 and you're in a Medicare Advantage plan, you still have the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 to March 31, 2027, which allows a one-time switch to another MA plan or back to Original Medicare.