What to know about changes to Medicare plans as open enrollment begins
Open enrollment for Medicare, the nationwide federal health insurance program primarily for those aged 65 and older, has started.
Many enrollees in privately run Medicare Advantage plans may need to find new plans as insurers scale back their offerings.
Additionally, costs may increase for prescription drugs after the Trump administration ended a temporary subsidy program.
Here's what you need to know about some of the biggest changes coming this year before open enrollment ends on Dec. 7.
Fewer Medicare Advantage options
During Medicare's open enrollment period, enrollees can choose between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans for the upcoming year.
As the Trump administration vows to lower drug prices for Americans, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services contends that its 2027 prescription drug prices will remain stable and the average prescription drug premiums in Medicare Advantage are projected to plummet more than 30%.
About 35 million people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, a Medicare-approved plan run by private insurance companies. The plan must follow rules set by Medicare, such as limiting out-of-pocket expenses and covering all services covered by traditional Medicare.
A KFF analysis shows that the average Medicare beneficiary can choose from among 35 Medicare Advantage plans in 2027 compared to 39 plans in 2026.
This indicates that insurers are either scaling back or removing Medicare Advantage plans completely and many Medicare beneficiaries will need to find new plans for 2027.
A separate KFF analysis earlier this month found that some enrollees will be losing their Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans, which are offered at the county level.
About 1% of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will have no prescription drug plan available during general enrollment, the analysis found. This includes beneficiaries in 193 counties, up from 123 counties in 2026.
Elimination of Part D subsidies
Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced it was ending a key temporary health insurance subsidy program aimed at capping prescription drug plan premiums for seniors.
Medicare Part D -- the government health insurance program's prescription drug benefit -- is used by tens of millions of older or disabled beneficiaries.
At the time, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, claimed the program, known as the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, benefited corporate insurance companies.
The program's subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year. That move will likely result in higher prescription costs and increase premiums for about half of recipients, an administration official told ABC News.
"Without these extra subsidies in place for 2027, some Part D stand-alone drug plan enrollees could face a larger premium increase for drug coverage next year than in recent years, though plan-specific premium amounts are not yet known," Juliette Cubanski, vice president and director of the program on Medicare policy at KFF, said in a statement.
A March 2026 report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission found subsidies provided under the program reduced the average monthly prescription drug plan premium by $26 in 2025 and $16 in 2026.
"The changes in the subsidies for Medicare Part D are pretty profound and are going to have a pretty big effect," Timothy McBride, the Bernard Becker Professor in the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis and a health policy analyst, told ABC News.
In a post on X in July, Oz claimed that most Medicare recipients will not see their premiums go up by no more than $10 and some may see even lower premiums.
"Every Medicare beneficiary still has access to low-cost plans, and we will continue to lower prescription drug prices for every American patient," Oz wrote.
Other changes coming to Part D include the cap on annual out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare Part D drugs. The standard deductible, for example, will increase from $615 to $700.
"I think people need to be paying attention to not just the premium, but also things like the deductible and the caps because that could significantly impact their out-of-pocket costs," McBride said.
ABC News' Arthur Jones II and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
