Take-Home Notes, part four. This is the part of the workshop where the slides stop and the internet starts. Kyle Jacobs opens Medicare.gov on the big screen and asks the room for a ZIP code. Somebody calls out three prescriptions and a pharmacy, and Kyle types them in, and then he delivers the line built for a laugh: I didn't say it, you said it. The point is that the room did the search, not the presenter. And today is a good day for it, because this morning Medicare.gov's plan search switched over to the 2027 plans.
Why start on Medicare.gov?
Because, in the words on the workshop screen, "Medicare.gov is the only place that shows every plan available to you." We pulled every plan from the site on October 1 for two ZIP codes. In Scottsdale, 85255, it lists 101 plans for 2027 from 18 companies: 92 Advantage plans, 40 of them special needs plans (open only to people with certain conditions or who also have Medicaid), plus 9 stand-alone drug plans. In Las Vegas, 89117, it lists 81 plans from 11 companies: 72 Advantage plans, 33 of them special needs plans, plus 9 drug plans. For comparison, the same Scottsdale search in September showed 17 companies and 88 Advantage plans for 2026. More choices, and more reasons to search instead of guess.
How do I search for a drug plan?
The workshop slide says it in three words: it's math. Your drugs, your pharmacy, the yearly cost. The clicks go like this:
| Step | On the screen |
|---|---|
| 1 | Type your ZIP code, then Continue. |
| 2 | Pick "Medicare drug plan (Part D)," then Find plans. |
| 3 | Answer the question about help with costs. |
| 4 | Choose "Yes, include drug costs." |
| 5 | Type each drug, pick it from the list, then the dosage, quantity, and how often. Add it to your list and repeat. |
| 6 | Tick up to five pharmacies, then Continue. |
| 7 | Read the results, sorted by lowest drug plus premium cost for the year. |
Pick your real pharmacy in step six, not the closest one, because the same pill on the same plan can cost different amounts at different counters, as an earlier piece on preferred pharmacies showed with the arithmetic.
How do I search for an Advantage plan?
Switch the plan type to Medicare Advantage, and your drugs and pharmacy carry over. Then the workshop's order kicks in, the one the presenters say has not changed in all their years of doing this: doctors first, then hospitals, then prescriptions, then the plan with the most matches, and only then the benefits. Medicare.gov has an "Add your providers" step where you can search for up to five doctors by name, and each plan card then shows a check or an X for each one. That is the theory. Here is day one: when we pulled the Maricopa County data on October 1, none of the 52 standard Advantage plans had doctor information loaded for 2027 yet, compared with 49 of 52 for 2026. The site's doctor search also looks up individual clinicians, not hospitals. So for now, the doctor and hospital check happens on each plan's own provider directory, and then with a phone call to the office.
What is the grid on the back of my notes sheet?
It is how you keep all of that straight. Write every plan you are considering across the top. Down the side, write your primary care doctor, your specialist, and your hospital. Then look up each one in each plan's directory, and draw a smiling face if they are in and an X if they are not. The instruction at the bottom of the slide is three words: repeat until complete. At this point in the show, the presenters say out loud what the whole room is thinking: nobody wants to do that. That is the honest answer. It is also the only way to know.
What does the little tooth mean?
This is the workshop's favorite gag, and the 2027 data proves it. Plan cards on Medicare.gov carry small icons for extras like dental, and you would think the tooth tells you something. In the plan data we pulled on October 1, the dental flag read "not specified" for every one of the 101 Scottsdale plans and all 81 in Las Vegas, even for plans whose detail pages list cleanings, X-rays, and crowns. The real answer, the limits and the copays, lives in each plan's Summary of Benefits, and for most plans that document is on the company's own website, not on Medicare.gov. On stage, this is where the presenters sigh and admit you are going to need some help.
What does the site not show yet?
Two more things, both normal for day one. Star ratings read "Coming Soon" on every 2027 plan we pulled; Medicare publishes them later in the fall. And the doctor matches above should fill in as plans load their directories. None of that changes the clicks. It changes when you can trust the answer, which is one more reason to start early in Open Enrollment and check twice.
Your take-home note
Flip your notes sheet over and fill in the grid for three plans: the one you have now and the two that came out on top in your search. For every box with a smiling face, call the doctor's office and ask one question: will you be in this plan's network in 2027? Questions before Friday? The advisors are at 602-281-3898.
Tomorrow, Friday, October 2. Foothills Library, Glendale, 10:30 AM. Mustang Library, Scottsdale, 2:30 PM. No cost. Register at 123easymedicare.com/medicare-workshop or call (877) 220-1089.
Tomorrow in Take-Home Notes, the day of the show: which one are you? Not on Medicare yet, on an Advantage plan, or on a Supplement and drug plan, and what each one does this fall.
This event is presented by 123EasyMedicare, a brand of American Retirement Advisors, an independent, private organization. It is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Medicare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Social Security Administration, or any government agency. The libraries are not sponsors of, and are not affiliated with, this event. Educational only; not tax, legal, or insurance advice.
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Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. It is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise representative of Medicare or the federal Medicare program. American Retirement Advisors is not a government agency. For official Medicare information, visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).