Medicare 2026

Before Dec. 7: What Milwaukee Should Check for 2027

Milwaukee — It is fall 2026, and the Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 Medicare coverage runs October 15 through December 7, 2026. CMS has already confirmed some of the numbers that will shape next year's drug coverage, but a few of the figures Milwaukee readers ask about most — the 2027 Part B premium and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets — have not been published yet. Here is what is settled, what is not, and how to read the letter from your plan that explains your own changes.

What CMS has confirmed for 2027

Three Part D program numbers are already set 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 reaches that cap, you pay $0 for the rest of the year for covered Part D drugs.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. This is the most a stand-alone or Medicare Advantage drug plan can charge as a deductible; many plans set theirs lower.
• 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; Part D has three phases now — deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic — and the $2,400 cap in 2027 is the ceiling on your out-of-pocket spending for covered drugs. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available as an option to spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.

What CMS has not announced yet

Two numbers Milwaukee readers often ask about are still pending:

• The 2027 Part B standard premium and annual deductible.
• The 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges, which raise Part B and Part D premiums for higher-income beneficiaries. (In 2026, IRMAA surcharges begin above $109,000 of income for a single filer.)

CMS typically publishes these figures later in the fall, often in November. We will not estimate them, and we would gently steer you past anyone who does — the official numbers come from CMS and nowhere else.

Your Annual Notice of Change: read this letter

If you are already in a Medicare Advantage or stand-alone Part D plan, your insurer mailed (or emailed) an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by the end of September. It compares your 2026 plan to its 2027 version — premiums, deductibles, copays, the drug list, the pharmacy network, and the provider network.

Three things worth checking:

1. Is the plan still being offered in 2027? In Milwaukee County, 6 plans are not returning for 2027. If yours is one of them, you have a window to pick a new plan. 2. Did it change names? About 12 plans in the county were renamed for 2027. A new name does not necessarily mean a new plan, but the ANOC spells out what changed. 3. Did your drugs, doctors, or pharmacy stay in-network? This is the single most common reason Milwaukee readers tell us they switched.

There are also 6 new plans entering the Milwaukee County market for 2027. We cannot tell you from here whether any one of them fits your situation — that is what Plan Finder on medicare.gov and your local SHIP counselor are for.

How plan availability looks locally

Milwaukee is in Milwaukee County, where CMS's 2026 Landscape file lists 52 Medicare Advantage plans from 7 carriers, all of which include drug coverage. The seven carriers offering MA-PD plans in the county are Aetna (CVS Health), Centene (WellCare), Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin, Network Health Medicare Advantage Plans, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan in the county by carrier and plan type.

A few plain facts about the local mix, so you know what shapes your choices:

• By plan type, the county's 2026 lineup includes HMO, HMO-POS, PPO, PFFS, and MSA plans. PPO and HMO-POS make up most of what is offered.
• 18 of the 52 plans are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) — designed for people with Medicaid as well as Medicare, specific chronic conditions, or institutional needs. If you are dually eligible, these are worth a careful look.
• Stand-alone Part D plans are counted at the state (region) level, not the county, so you will see the full Wisconsin PDP list on Plan Finder rather than a county-specific number.

With roughly 136,581 residents aged 65 and over in Milwaukee County, the market here is deep — which is good news for choice, and a reason to actually compare before you let a plan auto-renew.

A simple way to decide this fall

You do not need to read all 52 plans. A workable path:

1. Open your ANOC. Note any premium, deductible, drug tier, or network change that matters to you. 2. List what you need to keep. Your doctors, your hospital system, your pharmacy, and every prescription you fill. 3. Compare on medicare.gov's Plan Finder. It lets you enter your drugs and pharmacy and shows your estimated yearly cost under each plan. 4. Wait for the 2027 Part B and IRMAA figures before you finalize if those numbers affect your budget. You still have until December 7, 2026. 5. If you want a second pair of eyes, Wisconsin's SHIP — called the Wisconsin Medigap Helpline / Board on Aging and Long Term Care — gives free, unbiased counseling.

If you keep your current plan and it is still being offered in 2027, you do not need to do anything; it renews automatically with the changes in the ANOC.