How to read your 2027 Annual Notice of Change in ten minutes, and the four lines that matter
Your plan mailed it by September 30 and most people never open it. It is the only document that shows your 2026 and 2027 costs side by side, and it takes about ten minutes to read the parts that matter.
The short answer
The Annual Notice of Change is the letter your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan must send by September 30 each year. It compares your current coverage against next year's, line by line. Four sections decide whether to stay or switch: premium and deductible, drug formulary, provider network, and supplemental benefits. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
- Deadline to receive it: September 30, 2026. If it has not arrived by early October, call your plan.
- Who gets one: Medicare Advantage and Part D enrollees. Original Medicare and Medigap policyholders do not receive an ANOC.
- What it shows: Your 2026 and 2027 premium, deductible, copays, drug list, and network side by side.
- Window to act: October 15 through December 7, 2026. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
Applies to anyone enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan or a standalone Part D prescription drug plan. If you have Original Medicare with a Medigap policy, you will not receive an ANOC, because Medigap benefits are standardized by law and do not change year to year.
What is the Annual Notice of Change?
It is the letter your plan is required to send you every year explaining exactly what changes on January 1. Medicare Advantage plans and standalone Part D plans must both send one, and you must receive it by September 30.
It usually arrives in a thick envelope alongside the Evidence of Coverage, which is the full rulebook and much longer. The ANOC is the short version, and it is the one worth reading. It puts this year’s costs and next year’s side by side.
If you have Original Medicare with a Medigap policy, you will not get one. Medigap benefits are standardized by law and do not change from year to year, so there is nothing to notify you about. Your Medigap premium can still change, and that arrives separately.
Which sections actually matter?
Four. The document runs many pages, and most of it is boilerplate CMS requires every plan to include.
| Section | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly premium and deductible | Any increase, or a change from $0 to a dollar amount | A $10 monthly increase is $120 over the year, before you use the plan once |
| Drug list (formulary) | Each of your medications: still covered, same tier, same restrictions | A drug moving up a tier or off the list is the most expensive change on this page |
| Provider network | Your doctors, specialists, and hospital | Networks change even in years when costs do not |
| Extra benefits | Dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter allowance, fitness, transportation | These are usually trimmed first when a plan needs to hold its premium flat |
Read those four. You can skip the rest unless something in them surprises you.
What should you flag as a problem?
A formulary change involving a drug you actually take. That is the one that turns a plan you liked into a plan that costs you thousands, and it does not show up on the premium line at all.
Look at three things for each medication. Is it still on the list. What tier is it on. And does the plan now require prior authorization, step therapy, or a quantity limit. A drug can remain covered and still become hard to get.
The second thing to flag is a network change. If your cardiologist or your hospital is out of network for 2027, a Medicare Advantage plan that worked fine becomes a plan that does not. Confirm it with the provider’s office rather than relying only on the plan’s directory, which is not always current.
For 2027 there is a broader reason to check the premium line. The federal subsidy that held down standalone drug plan premiums ended after 2026, so many plans are priced differently than last year. We explained the mechanism in why your 2027 Part D premium is going up.
How do you read it in ten minutes?
Work from your own life backward into the document, rather than reading the document front to back.
The ten-minute pass
- Write down your medications with doses, your regular doctors, and your pharmacy before you open the envelope.
- Find the cost comparison table near the front. Note the 2026 and 2027 premium and deductible.
- Find the drug list section. Check every medication on your paper against it: covered, tier, restrictions.
- Check your doctors and hospital in the network section, then confirm with the provider’s office.
- Scan the extra benefits table for anything you actually use. Ignore the ones you do not.
- If nothing on your paper changed, you are done. If something did, compare alternatives at Medicare.gov before December 7.
Doing it in early October rather than late November matters. Plan comparison takes longer than reading the notice, and the good phone appointments fill up in the last two weeks.
What if the changes are bad?
You have until December 7 to switch, and changes take effect January 1. That window, its rules, and the narrower one that follows in January are covered in our guide to the Annual Enrollment Period.
Compare on total annual cost rather than premium. A plan with a lower premium and a worse formulary for your specific drugs will usually cost more over twelve months, and you will not feel it until February.
If your plan is leaving Medicare or exiting your county entirely, that is a different situation with better options than most people realize. A termination can create a guaranteed-issue right to buy a Medigap policy without medical underwriting, generally within 63 days. Guaranteed-issue rights vary by state. Taking whatever replacement plan the carrier assigns gives that up, and nobody in the process will point it out.
Does the ANOC tell you everything that is changing?
No. It tells you what is changing about your plan. It does not tell you what is changing about Medicare, and for 2027 several things are.
The standard Part D deductible rises to $700 and the annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs rises to $2,400. A second round of negotiated drug prices takes effect January 1, 2027. None of that appears as a change in your ANOC, because it applies to the program rather than to your plan, but all of it affects what you pay.
The notice also will not tell you whether a better plan exists. It compares your plan to itself, not to the market. That comparison is the part that takes real time, and it is why reading the notice early leaves room to do it properly. Start at our Medicare page if you want the broader picture first.
What if the changes are fine?
Then do nothing. Your plan renews automatically on January 1 and you are covered.
There is no prize for switching, and switching carries its own costs: a new deductible cycle, a new network to verify, and the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan has to be re-elected if you change plans. If you stay with the same plan and were enrolled in it, you are re-enrolled automatically.
The goal is not to change plans. It is to know what you are agreeing to before January 1, rather than discovering it at the pharmacy counter.
Questions people ask
I never got my ANOC. What now?
Call your plan and request a copy. Plans must deliver it so you receive it by September 30. If the plan cannot help, call 1-800-MEDICARE. The changes take effect January 1 whether or not you read the notice.
Is the ANOC the same as the Evidence of Coverage?
No. The ANOC is a short summary of what is changing. The Evidence of Coverage is the full rulebook, usually much longer, and it arrives in the same envelope or by the same deadline.
Why did I not get one?
Most likely because you have Original Medicare with a Medigap policy. Medigap benefits are standardized and do not change annually, so there is nothing to notify you about. Your Medigap premium can still change.
My plan looks the same. Do I still need to shop?
Not necessarily. If your premium, drugs, doctors, and benefits are unchanged and still fit, doing nothing is a legitimate choice. The point is to decide on purpose rather than by default.
What if my plan is being discontinued?
That triggers a special enrollment period, and it can also open a guaranteed-issue right to buy certain Medigap policies without medical underwriting, generally within 63 days. Do not accept a replacement plan automatically without checking that option.
Sources
- CMS, Medicare Open Enrollment Partner Resources, accessed September 17, 2026
- CMS, Medicare Part D 2027 National Average Monthly Bid Amount Information, July 28, 2026
- Medicare.gov, Find health and drug plans, accessed September 17, 2026
Want us to read your Annual Notice of Change for you?
Send a photo of the cost comparison pages along with your medication list. A licensed advisor will tell you what changed and whether it matters, and reply within one business day. Free, no obligation.
Send my ANOCCall or text (773) 657-9140Smart Insurance Agents LLC is an independent, licensed insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program for information on all of your options. Content is for general information and is not a guarantee of coverage or rates; figures are subject to change by CMS and carriers.