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Articles tagged Medicare.
12 articles
CMS has written four rules for plan debit cards into federal regulation, and one of them says the card is limited to the plan year. In the same rule it scrapped the mid-year notice that would have listed the benefits you had not used. Both take effect for 2027.
The programme that spreads Part D drug costs across the year renews automatically if you stay put. If you change plans during Open Enrollment, even to another plan from the same insurer, your new plan is forbidden from signing you up. You have to ask.
Reaching the cap means the rest of the year's covered drugs cost you nothing. Which is why the definition of what counts is worth more attention than the figure: a drug off your plan's formulary can cost you hundreds and move you no closer to it.
Open Enrollment runs 15 October to 7 December. Average Medicare Advantage premiums fall 16.5%, the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400, and the one number everyone wants is not out yet.
One has a yearly cap on what you pay and a network. The other has no cap and no network. The asymmetry most people miss is that only one of these choices is easy to reverse later.
The headline figure is real: average Medicare Advantage premiums fall 16.5% in 2027. What CMS actually said about dental, hearing and vision is narrower than it sounds, and it does not tell you what your own plan will pay toward a crown.
During it, insurers cannot refuse you or charge more because of your health. After it, they generally do not have to sell to you at all, and Medicare Open Enrollment in the autumn does not reopen it.
People 65 and over may claim an extra $6,000 deduction for tax years 2025 through 2028, on top of the existing senior amount. It phases out above $75,000 of modified AGI, and because of where it sits on the return, it does not lower the income figure Medicare uses.
Doing nothing rolls you into next year's version of your plan, which may not be the plan you chose. Premiums, networks and drug lists all change on 1 January, and this is the window in which you can do something about it.
One dollar over a bracket costs $1,148.40 for the year. The 2026 surcharge is set by the income you reported two years ago, which is why it arrives as a surprise and why the appeal form matters.
The 2026 HSA limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage. Three new rules take effect this year, including bronze exchange plans and direct primary care.
The standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026 and the Part B deductible is $283. Here is the full cost table, who pays more, and how the 2.8% COLA offsets the increase.