Medicare open enrollment 2027 dates and checklist.

The dates in one line

Medicare.gov lists the Open Enrollment Period as October 15 to December 7. For 2027 plans that is October 15 to December 7, 2026. Coverage you choose starts January 1, 2027, and the plan must get your request to join by December 7. Medicare Advantage members get a second, narrower window from January 1 to March 31, covered on the Advantage Open Enrollment Period page.

What you can change during October 15 to December 7

• Join, drop, or switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan, with or without drug coverage, or add or drop drug coverage.
• Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan, or from a Medicare Advantage Plan back to Original Medicare.
• Join, drop or switch to another Medicare drug plan if you are in Original Medicare.

This is the Medicare.gov table for the Open Enrollment Period. Federal regulation calls the same period the annual coordinated election period (42 CFR 422.62(a)(2)). Someone who returns to Original Medicare may also elect a stand-alone drug plan.

Checklist

1. Find the plans available where you live. Medicare.gov's plan compare tool lists them with costs and benefits. Your Medicare & You handbook lists plans in the back.
2. Add every prescription you take regularly to get a realistic monthly and yearly estimate for each plan.
3. Check the plan meets your needs. Does it cover your prescriptions and the benefits you use? Are your doctors and pharmacies in network?
4. Review the costs. Compare premiums, deductibles and the estimated yearly cost for your drugs. Part D limits by year are on the Part D deductible and cap page.
5. Ask other coverage first. If you have job, retiree or other coverage, talk to your benefits administrator before you change anything. Medicare.gov also says to check the plan covers you if you live in another state part of the year.
6. Join before December 7. Select Enroll at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, or contact the plan by phone, on its website, or on a paper form it must receive before the period ends.
7. Get free counselling if you want it. Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) offers personalized help and is not connected to any insurance company or plan.

Who this window does not fit

• New to Medicare: you get an Initial Enrollment Period instead. Use the initial enrollment period calculator.
• Special situations: a move, a loss of coverage, Medicaid or Extra Help can open a Special Enrollment Period at other times of year.

Money notes for 2027

SSA's latest cost-of-living adjustment is 3.6% (see the COLA calculator). CMS had not yet posted the 2027 Part B premium and IRMAA brackets when we checked on November 1, 2026, so compare plans using the current figures on the Part B history page and the IRMAA calculator, and expect the Part B amount to change.

Sources

Retrieved 2026-11-01. Each page was opened and read against the claim next to it.

• Medicare.gov, Joining a plan: the Open Enrollment Period dates, what you can change, coverage start and the steps to join a plan.
• 42 CFR 422.62, election of coverage under an MA plan (Cornell LII): the annual coordinated election period of October 15 through December 7.
• SSA, Cost-of-Living Adjustments: the latest COLA of 3.6% (read from the Internet Archive copy of the page).