Goodsurance

Enrollment & timing

Medicare Open Enrollment Opens as More Than 3 Million Advantage Members Face Mandatory Plan Changes

The 2027 Annual Enrollment Period began October 15, the third consecutive year in which millions of Medicare Advantage enrollees must find new coverage because their existing plans are not continuing.

By the Goodsurance editorial teamOctober 15, 2026

Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period opened Thursday, giving beneficiaries until December 7 to choose or change coverage that takes effect January 1, 2027. For the third consecutive year, a significant share of Medicare Advantage members are entering open enrollment with no choice but to find a new plan: more than 3 million enrollees hold plans that will not be offered in 2027, CNN reported October 15.

The disruption is driven primarily by medical costs that have outpaced the per-enrollee federal payments insurers receive to manage Medicare members' care. In response, carriers have exited counties, cancelled individual plan contracts, or reduced supplemental benefits such as dental, vision, and hearing coverage.

Medicare open enrollment started today. More than 3 million people must find a new plan before December 7.

Medicare Advantage now covers just over half of roughly 71 million Medicare enrollees nationwide. Several of the program's largest sponsors pulled back substantially for 2027, and two insurers left the Medicare Advantage prescription drug plan market altogether.

Beneficiaries whose plans are ending received non-renewal notices before open enrollment opened and have Special Enrollment rights that run alongside the standard window. All Medicare enrollees, not only those facing plan exits, can compare and switch plans through December 7 using Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov.

Any plan change made during the Annual Enrollment Period takes effect January 1, 2027.

In plain words

Medicare lets people pick or change their health plan once a year. That window opened today, October 15. It stays open until December 7. Any new plan you pick starts January 1, 2027. More than 3 million people in Medicare Advantage plans must find a new plan this year because their current plan is ending. This is the third year in a row that millions of people have had to do this. Insurers are leaving because their costs have grown faster than what the government pays them. If your plan is ending, you already got a letter in the mail about it. You can search for a new plan at medicare.gov. Everyone with Medicare can look, even people whose plan is not ending.

Understand the basics first

Source: CNN
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