Medicare 2027 by the Numbers: What Your Parent Will Pay Next Year

Every fall the Medicare numbers change, and every fall they’re scattered across a dozen press releases. This page puts the 2027 figures your parent is most likely to run into in one place, with a plain note on which ones are final and which are still projections.

Use it alongside your parent’s Annual Notice of Change and our yearly Medicare review checklist during open enrollment, which runs October 15 through December 7, 2026.

One important caveat up front: the Part A and Part B numbers below are projections from the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report. CMS usually announces the official figures in November. We’ll update this page when it does. The Part D figures are already final.

The quick table

Now here’s what those numbers mean for an actual person.

Part B: the premium most people pay

Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, tests and medical equipment. Almost everyone on Medicare pays the Part B premium, and for most people it comes straight out of their Social Security check.

Projected 2027 premium: $209.50 a month, up $6.60 from $202.90. That’s about $2,514 for the year.

Projected 2027 deductible: $292, up from $283. Your parent pays this before Part B starts paying its 80% share.

A few things that change what your parent actually pays:

• Higher incomes pay more. People with higher incomes pay a surcharge called IRMAA on top of the standard premium. It’s based on the tax return from two years earlier, so 2027 premiums are set by 2025 income. If your parent’s income dropped since then (retirement, a spouse’s death), they can ask Social Security to reconsider using form SSA-44.
• Lower incomes may pay nothing. Medicare Savings Programs, run through Illinois Medicaid, can pay the Part B premium for people with limited income and savings. Our 2026 benefit numbers page covers the current Illinois income limits.
• The $90 payment isn’t a premium cut. Many people with Part B got a one-time $90 payment in October 2026. It doesn’t lower the 2027 premium. People in Medicare Advantage, people whose Medicaid pays their premium, and people who pay IRMAA didn’t qualify.

Part A: what a hospital stay costs

Most people don’t pay a premium for Part A, which covers hospital stays, skilled nursing after a hospital stay, and hospice. The costs show up when someone is admitted.

• Projected 2027 deductible: $1,788 for each benefit period. A benefit period starts when your parent is admitted and ends after 60 days in a row out of the hospital or nursing facility. Two separate hospital stays in one year can mean paying the deductible twice.
• Days 61 to 90 in the hospital: a projected $447 a day.
• Skilled nursing facility, days 21 to 100: a projected $223.50 a day. Days 1 to 20 are covered in full after a qualifying hospital stay. After day 100, Medicare pays nothing.

That last number catches a lot of families off guard after a fall or a surgery. A month of rehab in a skilled nursing facility after the first 20 days can run more than $2,000 out of pocket. A Medigap policy covers most or all of this. Medicare Advantage plans set their own copays, so check the plan’s Evidence of Coverage.

Part D: the drug cap goes up

Part D is prescription drug coverage, either as a standalone plan alongside Original Medicare or built into a Medicare Advantage plan.

• Out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100. Once your parent pays this much for covered drugs in a year, they pay nothing more for covered drugs the rest of the year. This is final.
• Maximum deductible: $700, up from $615. Plans can charge less, and many Advantage plans do.
• Insulin: Covered insulin stays capped at $35 for a month’s supply, and it doesn’t count against the deductible.
• Premiums: CMS estimates the average standalone drug plan premium at about $36 a month, up less than a dollar. That average hides a lot of variation. A federal program that held standalone premiums down ends after 2026, and some individual plans are raising premiums sharply. Read the Annual Notice of Change.

If your parent’s drug costs are high, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets them spread out-of-pocket drug costs over monthly bills instead of paying a big amount at the pharmacy in January. Ask the plan to enroll.

Two more drug-related changes are worth knowing about for 2027:

• Lower negotiated prices on 15 more drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Trelegy and Xtandi, start January 1. Our guide to 2027 Medicare negotiated drug prices has the full list.
• The GLP-1 Bridge, which started July 1, 2026, lets eligible people get certain weight-loss medications for $50 a month through December 31, 2027. That $50 doesn’t count toward the $2,400 cap.

Medicare Advantage: lower premiums, higher limits

CMS expects the average Medicare Advantage premium to fall to about $12 a month in 2027, and about 8 in 10 people can keep their current plan at the same or a lower premium.

The monthly premium isn’t the whole story. KFF found the average in-network out-of-pocket limit for 2027 Advantage plans is $6,603, up 9%, and about 70% of enrollees face an increase. Average drug deductibles in these plans rose 23%, to $509. Plan choices are shrinking too: the average person has 28 Advantage plans with drug coverage to choose from in 2027, down from 32.

If your parent got a letter saying their plan won’t be offered in 2027, read our guide on what to do when a Medicare Advantage plan ends. The deadlines matter.

Medigap Plans K and L

If your parent has Medigap Plan K or L, which cover part of the costs in exchange for lower premiums, the yearly out-of-pocket limits for 2027 are $8,360 for Plan K and $4,180 for Plan L. These are final.

Social Security: the 3.6% raise

Social Security benefits go up 3.6% starting with January 2027 payments, about $75 a month more for the average retiree. That’s the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA.

Here’s the math most families care about: if the Part B premium lands at the projected $209.50, it takes $6.60 of that raise. The average retiree would keep about $68 more a month. People who pay IRMAA, or whose Medicare Advantage or Part D premiums are rising, will keep less.

What to do with these numbers

1. 1Pull out the Annual Notice of Change for your parent’s plan. It lists their actual 2027 premium, deductible, and copays, which matter more than any national average.
2. 2Check whether your parent qualifies for help. Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help with drug costs can save thousands. Illinois SHIP can screen your parent for free at 1-800-252-8966 (TTY 711).
3. 3Compare plans on total yearly cost, not premium alone, using Medicare’s Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare.
4. 4Make any change by December 7 so it starts January 1.
5. 5Come back in November. We’ll update the Part A and Part B figures once CMS makes them official.

Related reading

• Medicare Annual Notice of Change: the yearly review checklist
• What to do if your parent’s Medicare Advantage plan is ending
• 2027 Medicare negotiated drug prices
• 2026 benefit numbers every Northwest Suburbs caregiver should know
• Medicare basics for caregivers

This article is general information for caregivers, not financial or insurance advice. Projected figures can change when CMS announces final amounts. Confirm your parent’s costs with Medicare, their plan, or a SHIP counselor.

Rules for benefits and legal documents vary by situation and change over time. This is general information — consider talking with an elder law attorney or your local Area Agency on Aging for guidance specific to your family.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: CMS, “Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Programs Expected to Remain Stable in 2027”; Medicare.gov (Part D limits); 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projections as reported by Kiplinger; CMS 2027 Medigap Plan K and L limits; Social Security Administration 2027 COLA as reported by PBS NewsHour; KFF 2027 Medicare Advantage analysis.