By Deanna Samels, Sales Manager

If you have a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, there is an important change coming for 2027 that we want you to be aware of.

Over the past couple of years, Medicare has provided additional financial support to help stabilize premiums for standalone Part D prescription drug plans while significant changes were being made to the Medicare prescription drug program. That temporary program, called the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, will end after 2026.

So, what does that mean for you?

The program has helped limit some of the premium increases that could be passed along to people enrolled in standalone Part D plans. With that additional support ending, we could see more significant premium changes on some Part D plans in 2027.

That doesn’t mean everyone’s premium will increase, and it certainly doesn’t mean you should automatically start looking for a new plan. We won’t know exactly how individual plans will be affected until the 2027 plan information is released.

What it does mean is that there is one piece of mail you’ll want to pay particularly close attention to this fall: your Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC.

Every year, your insurance company sends you an ANOC explaining what is changing with your current plan for the upcoming year. We know insurance documents aren’t always the most exciting mail to open, but this year especially, please don’t toss this one aside.

Take a few minutes to look at your monthly premium, prescription drug deductible, copays or coinsurance, and any changes to how your medications are covered. These are the changes that can have the biggest impact on what you actually pay for your prescription coverage throughout the year.

If you see a premium increase, don’t panic. A higher premium doesn’t necessarily mean your plan is no longer a good option. The monthly premium is only one part of the total cost of prescription drug coverage. Your medications, pharmacy, deductible and copays all play a role. A plan with a lower monthly premium could actually cost you more over the course of the year depending on your prescriptions.

Our advice this fall is simple: open your ANOC and read it.

If you’re comfortable with the changes to your plan, there may be nothing you need to do. If something concerns you, you have questions about a change, or you’re unsure how it could affect you, that’s when we want you to reach out to us.

Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7, so there will be time to address concerns and determine whether a change makes sense for you.

At Ohio Health Benefits, we’ll be following the 2027 Medicare changes closely. If your ANOC is sitting unopened, make sure it doesn’t end up in the recycling bin before you read it!

If anything in it raises questions, call us at 330-633-7713 before Open Enrollment ends December 7. We’ll help you head into 2027 with coverage that still fits your needs and your budget.