Medicare 2026

Medicare in 2027 for Issaquah: the Part D numbers CMS has locked in, and what's still to come

Issaquah, Wash. — Fall 2026. The Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 Medicare coverage runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and this year the picture is unusual: some of the numbers you need are already confirmed, and some of the biggest ones — including the 2027 Part B premium — have not been released yet. If you live in Issaquah, here is what CMS has actually announced so far, what is still coming, and how to read the letter that will tell you what your own plan is doing.

What CMS has confirmed for 2027

Three Part D figures are locked in for next year:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once your covered drug spending hits that ceiling, 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 CMS uses in the background; it is not what any specific plan will charge you.

The structure of Part D itself is the same as in 2026: three phases (deductible, initial coverage, catastrophic), no coverage gap, and the option to spread your drug costs over the year through the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan.

What CMS has not announced yet

Two big pieces are still to come, and you will see them in the news later this fall:

• The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible. CMS usually publishes these in November.
• The 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges — the higher amounts some people pay for Part B and Part D based on income. These come out with the Part B figures.

Please be careful with projections you see online. Until CMS publishes the official numbers, no one — including us — knows what they will be. For 2026, IRMAA surcharges start above $109,000 in income for a single filer; the 2027 threshold will be released with the rest of the Part B announcement.

The one letter you should not toss

Every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan is required to send an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by the end of September. It lays out, side by side, what your plan is changing for 2027 — premium, deductible, copays, drug tier changes, network changes, and extra benefits. If you do nothing, your plan renews on January 1, 2027 with those changes in effect.

A few minutes with the ANOC is the single most useful thing you can do this fall. Look specifically at:

• The 2027 monthly premium and any deductible.
• Whether the drugs you take are still covered, and on what tier.
• Whether your doctors, clinics and hospitals are still in-network.
• Any changes to extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, OTC, fitness).

What the local picture looks like

Issaquah is in King County, where CMS's 2026 Landscape file shows 68 Medicare Advantage plans offered by 10 carriers, all of them including drug coverage. The carriers serving the county are Aetna (CVS Health), AgeRight Advantage, Centene (WellCare), Community Health Plan of WA, Elevance Health (Wellpoint/Anthem), Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Molina Healthcare of Washington, Regence BlueShield, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

The county's plan mix for 2026 breaks down as 24 HMO, 15 HMO-POS and 29 PPO plans, and 31 of the 68 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) — meaning they are only available to people who qualify (for example, dual Medicare-Medicaid eligibility, certain chronic conditions, or institutional care). Most Issaquah residents are choosing among the general-enrollment plans, not the SNPs.

The 2027 Landscape file — the official CMS list of what will be offered in King County next year — is released ahead of the October 15 enrollment start. That is when you can compare 2027 plans side by side on the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov.

Part D on its own in King County

CMS's 2026 Landscape shows 0 stand-alone Part D (PDP) plans listed for King County residents in the Medicare Advantage file. If you are on Original Medicare and want drug coverage, you can still shop stand-alone PDPs on the Plan Finder — they are part of a separate national list — or consider a Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage. A licensed agent or Washington's SHIBA counselor can walk you through the difference.

A calm way to work the deadline

You have from October 15 to December 7 to make a change for 2027. That is nearly eight weeks — enough time to read your ANOC, run your drug list through Plan Finder, and call your doctor's office to confirm they will still be in-network with any plan you are considering. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews with its 2027 changes.

There is also a second window: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027, when someone already in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare once.