Medicare Open Enrollment 2026: Reviewing a Parent's Plan

In 2026, Medicare's open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, for coverage in 2027; the window is the same every year. During it, a person with Medicare can join, drop, or switch Medicare Advantage plans, switch between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and join, drop, or switch a separate drug plan; the new coverage starts January 1, and the plan must get the request to join by December 7.¹ Put both dates on the family calendar now, along with a date in late October to sit down and review, so the decision is not made in the last week or not at all.

There is a second window for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan: from January 1 to March 31, 2027, they can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare and join a separate drug plan, with the change starting the first of the month after the plan gets the request.¹ It is a safety net if a new plan turns out to be wrong in January, not a reason to skip the fall review.

If your parent is in a Medicare plan, the plan sends a Plan Annual Notice of Change in September, listing the changes in coverage and costs that take effect in January; if it never arrived, call the plan and ask for it.² Read it with four questions in mind. Will the premium, deductible, or copays change? Is every medication your parent takes still on the plan's drug list, and at what cost? Are their doctors and specialists still in the network? Are the pharmacies they actually use still in the network?

Mark anything that changed. One changed answer does not mean your parent has to switch, but it is the reason to compare. And if nothing on the four questions changed and the plan has been working, that is a real answer too.

Two limits that apply to every Medicare drug plan go up for 2027. The yearly cap on out-of-pocket spending for covered Part D drugs rises from $2,100 in 2026 to $2,400 in 2027, and once your parent reaches it, they pay nothing out of pocket for covered Part D drugs for the rest of the calendar year; the highest deductible any Medicare drug plan may charge rises from $615 to $700.³ The cap is the reason to enter every drug in Plan Finder: for a parent on costly medications, it sets the most they can spend on covered drugs in 2027, whichever plan they choose.

A plan comparison is only as good as what you put into it, and the inputs are the same every year: every medication with its name, dose, and how often it is taken; every doctor and specialist your parent sees or expects to see; and the pharmacies they use, including any mail-order service. Add the Medicare card and the current plan's member card. Most families have these lists scattered across pill bottles, a refrigerator note, and three siblings' memories, which is why the review stalls.

Keep the lists in one shared place so they are current when October comes, not rebuilt from scratch each year. In CareCoordinate the medication list, the providers, and the insurance plans live in the same care circle, so whoever sits down to compare plans — your parent, you, or a sibling in another state — starts from the same, up-to-date information.

Medicare's Plan Finder, at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, lets you compare plans in your parent's area side by side, estimate the total out-of-pocket costs for the drugs they take at the pharmacies they prefer, see quality and customer-service ratings from current members, and check whether their doctors are in each plan's network.⁴ Enter the drug list first; the estimate is what turns a confusing page of premiums into a comparison you can use.

Do the comparison with your parent, not for them. Sit together or share a screen on a call, talk through what matters to them — keeping a particular doctor, the lowest monthly cost, the most predictable yearly cost — and write down the two or three plans worth a closer look. The choice is your parent's, and the review goes better when they can see the numbers too.

Being family is not enough on its own: Medicare can give you your parent's personal health information only if your parent gives permission out loud while you are both on the phone with Medicare, or has added you as an authorized representative.⁵ The lasting fix is the Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form. Filled out online in your parent's Medicare account, it lets you call on their behalf right away; the paper version, mailed in, generally takes a few weeks to take effect.⁵ Do it before open enrollment starts. The number for Medicare itself is 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), answered around the clock, and it can help in languages other than English and Spanish when you ask.⁴

The plan is separate: if your parent is in a Medicare Advantage or drug plan, ask the plan what it needs before it will talk to you, and keep a note of what you sent and when. If you already hold a power of attorney or other authority, keep a copy where the family can find it.

A parent in Original Medicare may also have a Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy. If they drop it to join a Medicare Advantage plan, they may not be able to get the same Medigap policy back later, depending on their state's rules and their situation.⁴ That is a decision to make slowly, with a SHIP counselor, not on the strength of a mailer promising extra benefits.

Open enrollment brings a flood of mail, ads, and calls from companies selling Medicare products; Medicare.gov, the Medicare & You handbook, and 1-800-MEDICARE are the official sources of unbiased information.⁴ Plans have rules too: they cannot call your parent unless your parent is already a member or has given permission, cannot come to the house uninvited to sell anything, cannot ask for bank account or credit card numbers over the phone unless it is needed to process an enrollment, and cannot offer cash, gifts worth more than $15, or free meals during a sales pitch.⁶

Talk to your parent about this before the calls start: no Medicare number or bank details to anyone who calls them, and a promise to hang up and call you or 1-800-MEDICARE instead. If your parent switched plans because of misleading information, call 1-800-MEDICARE and explain what happened.⁶

Every state has a State Health Insurance Assistance Program, known as SHIP, whose counselors give free, unbiased help with Medicare choices; shiphelp.org lists the local number.⁷ A SHIP counselor does not sell anything and can sit through the comparison with you and your parent, which is worth more than any mailer.

If money is tight, ask about the programs that help pay Medicare costs. Extra Help lowers the cost of Medicare drug coverage for people with limited income and resources, and Medicare Savings Programs can cover Part A and Part B premiums and other costs.⁴ The SHIP counselor can tell you whether your parent is likely to qualify and how to apply.

If you have reviewed the options and your parent is happy with the current coverage, they do not need to do anything; the coverage continues automatically into the new year.⁴ Write down that you checked, what changed, and why you decided to stay, in the same place as the three lists. In October 2027 that note, the updated lists, and the new letter are most of the review already done.