Medicare Part D Changes for 2027: Don’t Panic Yet

CMS is ending the Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration after 2026—but does that mean prescription drug plan premiums will skyrocket in 2027?

In this episode, Amanda explains why this temporary premium support was introduced, which Medicare plans participated, and why its expiration may not be as alarming as it sounds.

We cover:

• Which Medicare Part D plans could be affected
• Why Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage are different
• The Inflation Reduction Act changes that reshaped Part D
• The 2027 prescription drug out-of-pocket limit
• Why insurers now have more experience pricing the redesigned benefit
• When we’ll know what individual 2027 premiums and plan benefits look like

The Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration applied to participating standalone prescription drug plans—not Medicare Advantage plans with integrated Part D coverage. Although the demonstration is ending, individual plan premiums and benefits will vary. Medicare is expected to release finalized 2027 plan information in September.

Have Medicare questions or a topic you’d like Amanda to cover?

Email: [info@imwithamanda.com](mailto:info@imwithamanda.com)

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We are not a government agency. We are licensed insurance agents who discuss insurance programs such as Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplements, and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. Any specific plan information we provide is limited to the plans we offer in your area. Please visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE to learn about all your options.

#Medicare #MedicarePartD #Medicare2027 #PrescriptionDrugCoverage #MedicarePremiums #Medigap #MedicareAdvantage

00:00 Will Part D premiums skyrocket?
00:46 Inflation Reduction Act changes
01:32 Which Medicare plans may be affected?
02:13 Why insurance companies are better prepared
02:44 Why Amanda isn’t panicking
03:13 What the subsidy ending could mean
03:33 When we’ll know the 2027 premiums
04:01 The bottom line
04:26 Medicare compliance disclosure

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello, welcome back to another episode of the I'm with Amanda Medicare podcast. Um, I wanted to talk to you today about something that's timely. Um, there's been a lot of news recently about the ending of Center for Medicare Services or CMS Part D subsidies. I think it's very easy to feel like that means that all premiums are gonna skyrocket for next year. But I want to kind of step back, give a little bit of background as to why the subsidies were there in the first place, um what's happened over the last couple of years, and why maybe we don't need to panic yet. So uh let's start with sort of why. So a couple years ago, starting in 2023, um the Inflation Reduction Act rolled out, um, which did put some new restrictions or requirements onto Medicare Part D plans. Um, things that have happened to protect beneficiaries over the last couple of years, and some of you have certainly benefited from them. Things like the elimination of the coverage gap, um, insulin price caps at $35, the $2,000, which was then $2,100, which will be $2,400 next year, $2,400 cap max out of pocket. Those are things that didn't exist with Part D before the Inflation Reduction Act came in and put those requirements into those plan designs. So it's obviously very scary to hear that subsidies are ending uh because I think it's natural to think that Part D plan premiums are going to go up considerably. So first let's talk about who um may be affected by that. Uh the Part D subsidies that Medicare has been paying uh to Part D companies are only standalone Part D, will have no impact on Medicare advantage with Part D because those plans were not receiving these specific subsidies. So this is only the standalone Part D. So if someone has traditional Medicare and a supplement or Medigap plan, they've added Part D separately. Um, those are the plans that may be impacted by the removal of these um subsidies. The other thing that's happened is plans now have a few years of data to show um how much will these new requirements that the Inflation Reduction Act has placed on us affect revenue costs, etc. So they've had a couple years under their belt with the out-of-pocket cap for members. They've had the elimination of the coverage gap, they've had the the $31 or $35 insulin savings program. So they have a lot more data to know how those have impacted them now. Um so I'm not necessarily, I don't think that the world is ending. I think that um companies have been preparing for this. We don't know yet because bids still aren't finalized for what things are gonna look like next year. But I think that any of the major changes that you've seen to Part D, which notably have been an increase in deductibles, an elimination of co-pays in lieu of some coinsurances or percentages, I think that we've seen a lot of those impacts already. So I think we're gonna be okay. Um, I just wanted to explain quickly um which plans are gonna be losing these subsidies, why I think carriers and insurance companies have enough data and time to, you know, know how those impacts have affected them. And hopefully we won't see a skyrocket in premiums next year. If you have more questions, you certainly can reach out to us at infotonwithamanda.com. Um, it's you know getting into that AEP season. So pretty soon we're gonna start to know what those premiums are gonna look like, how plan designs are changing. Um, again, I just don't want anybody to panic. Uh I think that um losing those subsidies is not gonna have nearly the same impact that it would have at the beginning of the Inflation Reduction Act requirements, which was the purpose for them from the very beginning. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Thank you for joining me today. Reach out if you have questions. Thanks for listening to another episode of the I'm with Amanda Medicare podcast. Please make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast so you don't miss an episode. Also, please leave a review as that helps you reach more people that can benefit from this podcast's content. If you have questions or topics you want me to cover for a future episode, please email them to info at I'm withamanda.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Like any good industry, we do have compliance requirements. So here's my disclosure. We are not a government agency. We are licensed insurance agents who discuss insurance programs such as Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplements, and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. Any specific plan information I provide is limited to the plans I offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1 800 Medicare to get information on all of your options. Thank you.