Medicare Open Enrollment Checklist:

What to Review Before October 15

Medicare Open Enrollment is almost here. If you are already seeing plan advertisements, receiving Medicare mail, or wondering whether you need to make a change for next year, it can be tempting to start comparing plans immediately.

I recommend starting somewhere else.

Start with your own health, healthcare, and life.

Download the FREE Printable Medicare Open Enrollment Checklist Here

For coverage beginning January 1, 2027, Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026. Medicare says you can begin comparing 2027 Medicare health and drug plan options starting October 1.

Check out Medicare.gov to learn more about Open Enrollment.

Before you begin comparing those options, take a little time to identify what matters most to you. Identify any changes over the last year. Or maybe future changes that you need to prepare.

Your current plan may have changed. Maybe your medications or doctors may have changed, or your health is different than it was a year ago. You may be using more therapy, traveling more often, helping a spouse coordinate care, or paying closer attention to dental, hearing, or other benefits.

The goal of this checklist is to bring those pieces together so that when you do compare Medicare coverage, you know what you are comparing it against.

You do not need to become a Medicare expert first.

Work through these seven steps, make notes about anything you need to verify, and use what you learn to guide your Open Enrollment review.

Your 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Checklist

☐ 1. Gather the information you will need

Before opening Medicare Plan Compare or looking through plan materials, collect the information that describes the healthcare you actually use.

Have these nearby:

• Your current Medicare health or drug plan information
• Your Annual Notice of Change, if you received one
• A current list of prescription medications
• The names of your doctors and specialists
• Hospitals, clinics, therapists, or other providers that matter to you
• Your preferred pharmacy
• Notes about major healthcare changes during the past year
• Information about benefits you regularly use, such as dental, vision, hearing, transportation, or over-the-counter benefits
  

If you are enrolled in a Medicare health or drug plan, your plan sends an Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC, each fall. It describes changes in coverage, costs, and other plan details that will take effect in January. Medicare advises reviewing these changes to decide whether the plan will continue to meet your needs.

You do not need to read every Medicare document from beginning to end before you get started. For now, you are gathering the information you will use to make a more informed comparison.

☐ 2. Write down what changed in your health or life

This may be the most important part of your preparation.

It is easy to focus entirely on the question, “What changed in my Medicare plan?”

Also ask:

“What changed for me?”

Think back over the past year.

Did you:

• Start taking a new medication?
• Receive a new diagnosis?
• Begin seeing a specialist?
• Have surgery or expect a procedure in the coming year?
• Start physical, occupational, or speech therapy?
• Begin using medical equipment?
• Change pharmacies?
• Move or begin spending part of the year somewhere else?
• Develop new dental, hearing, or vision needs?
• Find yourself using healthcare more frequently?
• Begin helping a spouse or family member manage healthcare?
• Find that getting to appointments, pharmacies, or services has become more difficult?

You may discover that your plan changed very little while your needs changed considerably.

That matters.

A plan that worked well for you last year may still be a good fit. But the right comparison begins with the healthcare and support you expect to need next year, not simply with what you chose in the past.

☐ 3. Review what is changing in your current coverage

Now open your Annual Notice of Change or other information from your current plan.

Look for changes involving the parts of your coverage you are most likely to use.

Check:

• Monthly premiums
• Deductibles
• Copayments or coinsurance
• Prescription drug coverage
• Provider networks
• Prior authorization or referral requirements
• Dental, vision, hearing, or other supplemental benefits
• Your maximum out-of-pocket limit if you have Medicare Advantage

You are asking two separate questions:

What changed?

And:

Does that change matter to me?

A change to a benefit you never use may have little effect on your decision. A higher cost for a specialist you see every month, a medication you take every day, or therapy you receive regularly deserves much closer attention.

Highlight the changes that affect your actual healthcare use. Those are the ones to carry forward when you compare options.

☐ 4. Check the doctors, hospitals, and care you depend on

Make a short list of the providers and services that would be difficult or disruptive for you to change.

That might include:

• Primary care doctor
• Specialists
• Preferred hospital or health system
• Therapy clinic
• Mental health provider
• Durable medical equipment supplier
• Home-based care providers
• Other clinicians involved in ongoing treatment

If you are considering a Medicare Advantage plan, provider networks deserve particular attention. Network rules vary by plan type, and Medicare notes that some plans generally require you to use network providers while others allow out-of-network care at a higher cost. Prior authorization or referral requirements may also apply to some services.

Do not assume that because a provider participated in your plan this year, nothing has changed.

For providers who are especially important to you, verify their participation with the plan and, when possible, with the provider’s office.

Also think beyond the doctor’s name.

If you receive ongoing therapy, specialty treatment, diagnostic testing, medical equipment, or other recurring services, find out what accessing that care would look like under the coverage you are considering.

Continuity and ease of access are part of the decision.

☐ 5. Check every medication—and your pharmacy

Make an up-to-date medication list before you compare prescription coverage.

Include:

• Medication name
• Dose
• How often you take it
• Your preferred pharmacy
• Any mail-order medications you use

Then check each medication individually.

Medicare drug plans maintain their own lists of covered drugs, called formularies. Plans can also place medications on different tiers and use rules such as prior authorization, step therapy, or quantity limits.

So do not stop at:

“Is my medication covered?”

Also determine:

• What will I pay?
• Is the medication on a different tier?
• Does it require prior authorization?
• Does step therapy or a quantity limit apply?
• Does my pharmacy participate in the plan’s network?
• Would using a preferred pharmacy reduce my cost?

Pharmacy choice can matter. Medicare notes that some plans have preferred in-network pharmacies that may offer lower out-of-pocket costs than other pharmacies in the same network.

If changing pharmacies would be inconvenient or difficult, include that in your comparison too.

Learn More About Medicare Part D Changes for 2027

☐ 6. Review the costs and benefits you are actually likely to use

A monthly premium is important, but it does not tell you what an entire year of healthcare will cost.

Look at the care you already use regularly or reasonably expect to use next year.

Depending on your coverage, that might include:

• Primary care visits
• Specialist visits
• Urgent care
• Emergency care
• Hospital stays
• Outpatient procedures
• Diagnostic imaging or testing
• Physical, occupational, or speech therapy
• Medical equipment
• Prescription medications

You do not need to predict every medical expense you could possibly have.

Concentrate on the costs most relevant to your healthcare.

Then consider supplemental benefits that genuinely matter to you.

If dental coverage is important, for example, look beyond the word “dental.” Find out what services are covered, what limits apply, and whether the dentists you would want to use participate.

Do the same for vision, hearing, transportation, fitness, over-the-counter allowances, or other benefits.

A long list of benefits may sound impressive. What matters is whether those benefits meet needs you actually have and whether you can realistically use them.

☐ 7. Compare your current coverage with your 2027 options

Now you are ready to compare.

Beginning October 1, Medicare directs people to compare their current health or drug coverage with available options for the coming year. During Open Enrollment, October 15 through December 7, you can make eligible changes to Medicare Advantage or drug coverage, with changes generally taking effect January 1.

Use the information you gathered rather than comparing plans based only on premiums, advertisements, or extra benefits.

As you compare, bring the decision back to five questions:

1. Can I continue to access the doctors, hospitals, and other providers that matter to me?
2. Are my prescriptions covered in a way I can reasonably manage?
3. What would I pay for the healthcare services I am most likely to use?
4. Does this coverage fit the way I expect to live and receive healthcare next year?
5. Knowing what I know now, would I choose this plan again for 2027?

That last question can be particularly useful.

Your current plan may still be the right choice. Reviewing your options does not mean you need to change coverage.

It means staying becomes an intentional decision rather than something that happened because another December arrived.

If You Are Helping a Parent, Spouse, or Someone You Love

You can use the same checklist together.

Help gather medications, providers, plan documents, and notes about changes during the past year. Write down questions that need answers and help verify information.

Support does not have to mean taking over the decision.

Sometimes the most useful role is simply helping turn a collection of paperwork, healthcare changes, and plan information into something easier to compare.

Prefer to Work Through the Checklist on Paper?

The complete checklist is here in the article, and you are welcome to use it directly.

If you prefer having everything on paper, you can also download the printable Medicare Open Enrollment Checklist, with space to write down your medications, providers, healthcare changes, questions, and plan-comparison notes.

The printable version contains the same core checklist. It is simply designed to make it easier to gather everything in one place while you review your options.

Your Next Step

You do not need to compare every Medicare option today.

Start by gathering your information.

Write down what changed in your health and life. Review what your current plan is changing. Make sure your medication and provider lists are current.

Then, when you begin comparing 2027 coverage, you will have something more useful than a stack of plan brochures.

You will have a clear picture of what your coverage needs to do for you.

If the choices still feel difficult to sort through, you do not have to work through them alone. State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, or SHIPs, provide free, local, unbiased Medicare counseling to people with Medicare, their families, and caregivers. Medicare also provides assistance through Medicare.gov and 1-800-MEDICARE.

The goal of Open Enrollment is not to find a theoretical “perfect” plan.

It’s to take a thoughtful look at your coverage and decide whether it still supports your health, your priorities, and the way you expect to live in the year ahead.

---

This article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not individualized insurance, legal, financial, or medical advice. Medicare plan availability, costs, formularies, provider networks, benefits, and coverage rules vary by plan and location and may change. Verify plan-specific information through Medicare.gov, your plan, or a qualified Medicare counselor before making coverage decisions.