Medicare Advantage

Ashland's 2027 Medicare Advantage choices: who's staying, who's leaving, who's new

ASHLAND, Ore. — If you have a Medicare Advantage plan here, the mail landing in your box this month is worth opening. Fall 2026 is when insurers tell current members what their plan will look like in 2027 — and it is also when Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period opens, running Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026. Any change you make in that window takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

Ashland sits in Jackson County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. That means the lineup you can shop from in Ashland is the same one your neighbors across Jackson County see. Some plans that were sold in 2026 will return next year. A few new plans are coming in. And some plans that were sold this year will not be offered in 2027 — that is normal in any given year, but it matters if it is your plan.

What's actually changing in the Jackson County lineup

Every year, CMS publishes a Landscape Source File that shows which Medicare Advantage and Part D plans each carrier will sell in each county. The 2027 file is what determines your Ashland choices next year.

Three things can happen to any given plan from one year to the next:

• It returns. The plan is offered again, but almost always with some changes — to premium, cost sharing, drug list, extra benefits, or provider network. Those changes are spelled out in the ANOC your insurer sends before Sept. 30, 2026.
• It's new. A carrier can add a plan to Jackson County that wasn't sold here in 2026, or a new carrier can enter the market.
• It doesn't come back. A plan can be discontinued or pulled from this county. The carrier may still sell other plans here — just not that specific one.

We are not listing plan names, premiums, or benefits in this article. Those details live in the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov and in each plan's own materials, and they are what you should compare side by side.

How to read your Annual Notice of Change

If your 2026 plan is returning in 2027, your ANOC is the single most useful document you will get this fall. It compares your plan's 2026 terms to its 2027 terms — premium, deductible, copays, drug tier placements, and the network. Read it with these questions in mind:

• Are my doctors and preferred pharmacy still in the network for 2027?
• Are my regular prescriptions still covered, and on the same tier?
• Did any extra benefits I actually use (dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter, transportation) change?
• Did the maximum out-of-pocket limit move?

If everything still fits, you don't have to do anything. Your plan renews on Jan. 1.

If your plan is not returning for 2027

You should receive a non-renewal notice from your carrier this fall. That notice triggers a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that runs from Dec. 8, 2026 through the end of February 2027, giving you extra time beyond the Dec. 7 deadline to:

• Pick a different Medicare Advantage plan offered in Jackson County for 2027, or
• Return to Original Medicare and, if you want drug coverage, add a stand-alone Part D plan.

If you go back to Original Medicare after a plan non-renewal, you also get guaranteed-issue rights to buy certain Medigap policies without medical underwriting. Timing on that matters — call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) before you make the move.

The 2027 numbers that are set — and the ones that aren't

CMS has confirmed a few program-level figures for 2027 that will affect anyone with drug coverage:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium is $41.33 for 2027 — that is a formula input, not what any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes them in November, along with the income brackets that determine IRMAA surcharges. Ignore any figure you see quoted for those before CMS releases them.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the option to spread your drug costs into monthly installments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter — continues in 2027. You can opt in through your Part D or Medicare Advantage drug plan.

How to decide, step by step

1. Wait for your ANOC and any non-renewal notice. Both should arrive by Sept. 30, 2026. 2. Make a short list of what you actually use — your doctors, your pharmacy, your prescriptions with dosages, and any extra benefits that matter to you. 3. Run your list through the Plan Finder at medicare.gov once the 2027 plans post in early October. It will show every Medicare Advantage plan available in your ZIP code, side by side, with your specific drug costs. 4. Call for a second opinion. Oregon's SHIBA program (Oregon's SHIP) gives free, unbiased Medicare counseling. Call 1-800-722-4134. 5. Decide by Dec. 7, 2026. If your plan is not returning, you have until the end of February to switch under the SEP.