Medicare Advantage Premiums Fall Sharply in 2027 — What Beneficiaries Should Do Now

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) projects that the weighted average monthly premium across all Medicare Advantage plans will drop 16.5% to $12 in 2027, down from $14.37 in 2026. At the same time, the average monthly premium for standalone Medicare Part D prescription-drug plans is expected to tick up modestly to $36 from $35.09.

What’s changing and what it means

Medicare Advantage plans — the private-plan alternative to traditional Medicare — often include extras such as vision, dental and hearing benefits and cap annual out-of-pocket spending. While premiums are set to fall sharply on average, beneficiaries should remember that premiums are only one part of total costs.

“Premiums are only one part of the story in terms of affordability,” said Laura Skopec, a senior research associate with the Urban Institute. “Beneficiaries are very price-sensitive on premiums. Only some beneficiaries will price out how much it will actually cost to be in that plan for a year.”

Out-of-pocket expenses such as copayments, deductibles and prior-authorization requirements for specialists can change year to year and may make a lower-premium plan more expensive overall.

Key enrollment facts

• Open enrollment runs Oct. 15–Dec. 7. Changes take effect Jan. 1.
• More than 99% of beneficiaries will have access to at least one Medicare Advantage plan in 2027; about 97% will have 10 or more options.
• The national count of Medicare Advantage plans is expected to be 5,532 in 2027, a small decline from 5,553 in 2026.
• CMS projects Medicare Advantage enrollment at roughly 34 million in 2027 (about 47.4% of all Medicare enrollees), but notes that historical projections have often underestimated actual enrollment.
• About 80% of current Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are expected to be able to stay in their current plan with the same or a lower premium next year.

What beneficiaries should do

Experts urge beneficiaries to look beyond the headline premium number when comparing plans:

• Confirm that your providers (primary doctors and specialists) remain in the plan network.
• Compare expected annual costs, including copays, coinsurance, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.
• Check prescription-drug formularies and pharmacy access if you take regular medications.
• Use the Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov to compare total expected costs and benefits for the year.

“The bottom line is that it will pay to shop around during the 2027 Medicare open-enrollment period (same as always), and look past the premium to assess other benefit changes,” said Juliette Cubanski of KFF.

Context and trends

Growth in Medicare Advantage has slowed as some insurers exited unprofitable markets or narrowed benefits. CMS reported Medicare Advantage plans had 35.5 million enrollees as of February 2026, up 3.2% from a year earlier — slower than the 7%–10% annual growth seen between 2017 and 2024. Research from KFF also shows many beneficiaries do not actively compare options: nearly 70% did not compare plans during the 2022 open-enrollment period.

Given the projected premium changes and potential shifts in plan design, beneficiaries should review plan details during open enrollment to choose the option that best fits their medical and financial needs.

Where to compare plans: Visit Medicare.gov and use the Medicare Plan Finder to compare premiums, expected costs and covered benefits for 2027.