"Ship" 10.26.26

Let's start with the big one.

If you remember only one thing from today's episode, make it this.

Don't just renew your plan without looking at it and looking at competitors.

It's easy to do nothing, but if you do nothing, most plans simply roll over into the next year.

The plan you have today may not be the same plan or the same benefits you will get starting in January.

The name can stay the same while the costs, the doctors, and the covered drugs all change.

So how would you even know what changed? Your plan has to tell you under the law.

Every September, it mails you a letter called the Annual Notice of Change.

It lists what is different for next year.

The monthly price, what you pay at the doctor, what you pay for drugs.

If that letter is sitting in a pile of mail, go find it.

If you never got one, call your plan and ask for it.

The phone number is on the back of your insurance card.

Now what's new for 2027? Three things.

First, the yearly limit on drug costs is going up.

Medicare has a cap on what you pay out of your own pocket for covered drugs.

This year the cap is $2,100.

Next year it's $2,400.

So once you hit the cap, you pay nothing more for covered drugs for the rest of the year.

Second, the drug deductible, that's your share, can be higher.

A deductible is what you pay first before your plan starts to help.

The most a plan can charge is going from $615 to $700.

Some plans charge less.

Some charge nothing.

So it's worth comparing.