The Annual Enrollment Period opens today. From now through December 7, people with Medicare can review and change their coverage for 2027, and the questions start arriving the same week the mailers do. A few of the questions our advisors hear every fall begin with something a friend read online. This year, three of those somethings are wrong or out of date.
None of them is anyone's fault. Medicare rules change through proposals, final rules, and yearly updates, and a headline about a proposal can travel a long way before anyone checks whether it became a rule. Here is what the official sources say.
Rumor 1: Can you switch plans if your doctor leaves the network?
Not because of a new rule, because that rule never arrived. Medicare proposed a special enrollment period that would have let people change plans when a provider leaves their plan's network. But in the final rule for 2027, published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2026, Medicare wrote that it "is not finalizing the proposal to establish a special enrollment period for provider terminations." Some websites still describe the proposal as if it became law. It did not.
Medicare's own list of special enrollment situations covers events like moving out of your plan's service area or your plan ending its contract with Medicare. It also mentions a significant change in a plan's provider network, but Medicare decides those case by case, so one doctor leaving does not automatically open a window. The safest assumption is the one that has always held: the time to make sure your doctors are in your plan's network for 2027 is now. Our piece on checking whether your doctor is still in network walks through how.
Rumor 2: Is the cap on drug costs $2,000?
It was, for one year. The yearly cap on what you pay out of pocket for covered Part D drugs started at $2,000 in 2025, and it is updated every year. According to Medicare's page on what drug coverage costs, it is $2,100 for 2026 and $2,400 for 2027. The most any drug plan can charge as a deductible goes from $615 in 2026 to $700 in 2027.
The cap is still a big protection, especially for anyone on an expensive medication. But if you are planning your 2027 budget around $2,000, plan around $2,400 instead. And remember what the cap measures: your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs. Your monthly premium is a separate cost, and so is the income-based surcharge some households pay, which we covered earlier this week.
Rumor 3: Do you have to re-enroll every year to keep your coverage?
No. In its yearly review guide, Medicare says: "If you've reviewed your options and you're happy with your current coverage, you don't need to do anything (your coverage will continue automatically)."
The important words there are "reviewed your options." Doing nothing is fine when it is a choice, not a default. Plans change their premiums, drug lists, and networks every year, and your plan's Annual Notice of Change spells out what is different for 2027. There is also one real exception to "your coverage will continue": if your plan is not renewing its contract with Medicare, you will need to choose new coverage, and Medicare gives you a special window to do it.
Bonus: Is it "Open Enrollment" or the "Annual Enrollment Period"?
Both, depending on who you ask, and it is fair to be confused. Medicare.gov now titles the October 15 to December 7 window "Open Enrollment." The federal rules call it the "annual coordinated election period," and most people in the industry, including us, call it the Annual Enrollment Period. Same seven weeks, three names.
Here is why the name matters: there is a second window with "open enrollment" in its name. Medicare.gov also lists the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 to March 31, and it is only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. So if someone tells you "you can fix it in open enrollment," ask which one they mean. For most changes, the window that matters is the one that opened today and closes December 7.
How do you check what you hear?
Three habits help. First, ask whether a change is a proposal or a final rule, because only one of them changes anything. Second, check the year: a number that was right for 2025 can be wrong for 2027. Third, go to the source. Medicare.gov, the plan's own Annual Notice of Change, and the plan's Evidence of Coverage will settle most questions faster than a forwarded article will.
Want to bring your rumor to the show?
Bring your rumor to Fiscal Fridays. On Friday, October 23, our live educational show in Scottsdale has a secret guest, a Medicare health plan executive who has spent his career inside the health insurance business, sitting down with David Schaeffer. Doors open at 10:00 AM Arizona time for coffee, the show starts at 10:30, and there are twenty seats. Save your seat here.
What a Certified Medicare Planner® does differently
They start from the documents, not the headlines. They read your plan's Annual Notice of Change, check your doctors and prescriptions against the 2027 networks and drug lists, and only then decide whether staying put is the right choice. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 to December 7, and changes take effect January 1. The advisors are at 602-281-3898.
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).