If you have Medicare, the Annual Open Enrollment Season has arrived. If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D prescription drug plan, your costs and coverage could be changing significantly next year. Indeed, your Medicare Advantage plan may be terminating. So, it’s time for you to study your options. Ken Ridder reports for the Association of Health Care Journalists that you should not rely on AI to make your choices.
If you’re enrolled in traditional Medicare, you only have to think about your Part D prescription drug stand-alone coverage. And, you should check out all your Part D options. You might find that a different Part D plan offers lower costs and better coverage. To maximize profits, health insurers offering Part D can and do change their premiums and copays, as well as their pharmacy networks. And, they can use prior authorization in new and different ways.
Everyone with Medicare will face an increase in their Part B premiums. People in Medicare Advantage plans should all have received an Annual Notice of Change in the mail detailing how their costs and coverage will change in 2027. Even in Medicare Advantage, it’s important to check your drug coverage. The notice you receive can be terribly confusing.
Yes, you can use Claude, ChatGPT or another AI service for answers to your questions, but don’t expect to get accurate or complete ones. You should verify anything you learn from one of these chatbots. Contact your state health insurance assistance program for free unbiased information.
How can AI get it wrong? In the same ways that many advisers get it wrong. AIs can fail to consider state rules that might make it easier to enroll in Medigap or qualify for assistance paying for Medicare. Or, the AI might not know that certain plans won’t cover the drugs you take or will cover them but at a higher cost to you.
Keep in mind that costs are rising. Drug costs in the US keep going up significantly. Notably, in other wealthy countries, drug prices have dropped. Moreover, Medicare is raising people’s Part D deductible from $615 to $700 in 2027. And, the Part D out-of-pocket limit is rising from $2,100 to $2,400.
If you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan, you should expect your out-of-pocket limit for medical and hospital services to increase as well. Each Medicare Advantage plan sets its own limit. Medicare’s maximum limit is up $600 to $9,850 in 2027.
The good news: As of 2027, Medicare will have negotiated drug prices for the 25 drugs that cost the program the most and are most used. You might see savings on these drugs.
