1What Is Changing for 2027
Medicare open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from October 15 to December 7, 2026. This is the yearly window to switch Medicare Advantage or Part D drug plans. Whatever you choose starts on January 1, 2027.
Several numbers move at the same time. The Social Security Administration announced a 3.6% cost-of-living increase (COLA) for 2027 on October 14. The AP reports the Part D yearly out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 and the standard Part D deductible rises to $700. A temporary federal subsidy that helped hold down some Part D premiums also ends this year.
The one big number still missing is the 2027 Part B premium. CMS usually announces it in the fall, often in November. Until then, any 2027 Part B figure is a projection, including the one in the table below.
| Item | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security COLA | 2.8% | 3.6% (official) |
| Standard Part B premium | $202.90 a month | About $209.50 (projected, not final) |
| Standard Part D deductible | $615 | $700 |
| Part D yearly out-of-pocket cap | $2,100 | $2,400 |
Note: the $209.50 Part B figure comes from the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report. The year before, the trustees had projected $218.60 for 2027, and some private forecasts are higher. Update the number once CMS publishes the official premium.
This guide is about tracking what you pay, not about which plan to pick. For help comparing plans, use the Plan Finder on Medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for free one-on-one counseling.
2#1: Find Premiums Taken Before Your Deposit
Most recurring bills show up on a bank statement. Your Part B premium does not. If you get Social Security, the premium is usually taken out before the payment is sent, so your bank only ever sees the smaller amount.
That makes it easy to forget the premium is a recurring payment at all. It is one, and at over $200 a month, it is likely one of the largest you have.
Your Part B premium is taken out before your Social Security payment reaches the bank, so it never appears on your statement as a bill.
Part B may not be the only thing taken out. If you asked for it, your Part D or Medicare Advantage premium can also come out of your Social Security payment. Higher earners may also have an extra income-based amount added to their Part B and Part D premiums.
To see the full list, sign in to your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, or look at the last benefit letter you received. It shows your gross benefit, each amount taken out, and what is left. Write each one down as its own recurring payment.
3#2: Why Your January Deposit Can Change
In January, two things usually change at once. Your gross benefit goes up by the COLA, and your Part B premium is reset to the new year's amount. The deposit you see is the result of both, plus any plan change you made during open enrollment.
Example scenario: say your gross benefit in 2026 is $2,000 and only the standard Part B premium of $202.90 is taken out, so $1,797.10 lands in your bank. A 3.6% COLA brings the gross to $2,072. If the 2027 premium ends up at the projected $209.50, your deposit becomes $1,862.50. That is a raise of $65.40, not the $72 the COLA alone suggests.
Now say you also switch to a drug plan during open enrollment and ask for its premium to come out of Social Security. That premium is taken from the same deposit, so the amount that lands in January drops again. None of these numbers are wrong, but if you budget from last year's deposit, every bill tied to it is working from an old figure.
Did you know? A rule called the hold harmless provision stops a Part B increase from pushing most people's net Social Security payment below the year before. It does not cover everyone. People new to Part B, those who pay the extra income-based amount, and people whose state pays their premium are not protected by it. It also does not cover Part D or Medicare Advantage premiums.
Social Security has usually sent each person a COLA notice near the end of the year, by mail or in the my Social Security message center. That notice shows your new gross benefit, your new deductions and your new net payment. When it arrives, that is the number to plan around.
4#3: List Every Bill Tied to Your Deposit
Many retirees set up automatic payments to come out of the account where Social Security lands, often timed for a few days after the deposit. That works well until the deposit amount or date changes, or a new bill gets added on top.
Look for these in your bank and card statements:
- Medigap (Medicare Supplement) premiums, which are always paid to the insurer, often by monthly bank draft
- Part D or Medicare Advantage premiums paid to the plan by bank draft or card
- Pharmacy auto-refills or mail-order prescriptions charged to a saved card
- Monthly bills from the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, if you signed up for it
- Dental, vision or hearing coverage billed separately from Medicare
- Utilities, phone, internet, insurance and any subscriptions set to the same account
Note the amount, the date each one is taken, and who takes it. If you are not sure you have found them all, our guide on how to find all your automatic payments in one place walks through where each type tends to hide.
5#4: Update Payments After You Pick a Plan
Choosing a plan is only half the job. The payment for that plan also has to be set up, and the old one has to stop. Do this as soon as your new plan confirms your enrollment, not in January.
If you stay in the same plan: find the new 2027 premium in the Annual Notice of Change your plan sent in late September. Your payment method usually carries over, but the amount taken will change in January.
If you switch plans: your new plan will ask how you want to pay. You can usually choose a bill, a bank draft, a card, or having the premium taken from Social Security. Your old plan should stop billing when the new one starts, but check that any bank draft or card payment you set up with the old plan actually ends, and ask for a refund of any charge for a month you are no longer covered.
If you ask for the premium to come from Social Security: it can take a few months to start. Until it does, the plan may bill you directly, and when the deduction finally begins, the first one can cover more than one month. Plan for that, so a larger first deduction does not catch your other bills short.
Medicare premiums renew once a year, the same way annual subscriptions do. Our guide on tracking annual renewal dates covers how to keep yearly changes like this from slipping past you.
6#5: Leave Room in Your Account for January
January is the month most likely to bring surprises. New premiums start, deductibles reset, and with the standard Part D deductible rising to $700, pharmacy charges early in the year can be higher than you are used to.
If several automatic payments come out of one account right after your deposit, a smaller deposit or a larger first premium can leave too little for the last one. A declined bank draft can mean a returned payment fee from your bank and a late notice from the company you owe.
Keep a small cushion in that account for the first two months of the year, until every new amount has gone through once. Our guide on what happens when an autopay payment gets declined explains the fees and how to fix one quickly if it happens.
7#6: Your Open Enrollment Checklist
Work through these in order between now and the end of January:
- Before December 7: write down every amount taken out of your Social Security payment today
- Before December 7: list every automatic payment that comes out of the account where your deposit lands
- After you choose a plan: note its 2027 premium and how you will pay it
- After you switch plans: confirm the old plan's bank draft or card payment has stopped
- When CMS announces it: replace the projected Part B premium with the official 2027 amount
- When your COLA notice arrives: record your new net deposit and check it against your bills
- In January: compare the actual deposit and each premium to what you expected
- In January and February: keep a small cushion in the account until every new amount has gone through
If you help a parent or relative with their bills, this is a good list to go through together. Most of it takes only a few minutes once you know where to look.
8#7: Keep It All in One List
The hard part is not any one premium. It is that they are spread across Social Security, a supplement insurer, a drug plan, a pharmacy and the bank, each with its own date and its own yearly change.
Add each one to TrackAutoPay, including the premiums taken out before your deposit, with its amount and the date it is paid. Manual Organization lets you update a premium the day the official 2027 number or your COLA notice arrives, and Smart Tracking reminds you before each payment, so a new amount in January is something you expected rather than something you discover.
See Every Premium Before January Does
Keep your Medicare premiums and every bill tied to your Social Security deposit in one list, with a reminder before each payment.
