Your needs come first.
Start there.
An annual review is a chance to check whether your coverage still fits. Look at changes to your current plan alongside your doctors, prescriptions, and expected costs.
Your doctors and hospitals
List the providers you want to keep seeing. Check their participation in the specific plan you’re considering for 2027.
Your prescriptions and pharmacy
Gather your medication names, dosages, and preferred pharmacy. Review coverage, restrictions, and estimated annual costs.
Your total costs
Look beyond the monthly premium. Consider deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and the plan’s limits and rules.
Your Annual Notice of Change
Read your current plan’s notice to see what is changing for the coming year, and bring your questions to your review.
What can you change during AEP?
Depending on your current coverage and eligibility, you can join, drop, or switch Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plans, or change between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.
Medicare Supplement insurance (Medigap) has separate enrollment protections and rules. AEP does not automatically guarantee that you can buy a Medigap policy without medical underwriting.
Sources: Medicare.gov: plan marketing begins October 1 and Medicare.gov: Open Enrollment. Reviewed September 16, 2026. Individual plan details must be checked against current carrier materials.