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Issue No. 14 · Updated for the 2026 plan year · 7 minute read
This Month's Note
Every autumn, plans quietly adjust their costs, their pharmacy lists and their doctor networks. Nobody is doing anything wrong by not noticing — the letters are long and the language is dense. This note explains, in ordinary words, what to look at and how long it takes.
The single most common assumption we hear is this: “I didn't change anything, so nothing changed.” It is a perfectly reasonable thing to believe. Unfortunately, it is rarely true. Your plan can change even when you don't, and the changes arrive in a thick envelope called the Annual Notice of Change — usually in late September.
That doesn't mean you need to switch plans. Plenty of people read through everything and decide, sensibly, to stay exactly where they are. The point is to make that decision on purpose, with the current numbers in front of you, rather than by default.
The Core of This Issue
Four things worth checking before you renew. Read them in any order — each one stands on its own.
Insurance companies are permitted to adjust premiums, copays, deductibles and the doctors in their network once a year. Those changes are listed in the Annual Notice of Change your plan mailed you. If that envelope is still unopened on a side table, you are in very good company — but the two pages worth reading are the cost summary and the network summary.
Each plan keeps a formulary — a list of the medications it covers and what you pay for each one. Medications move between tiers from year to year, and a drug that cost you very little in one year can sit in a pricier tier the next. Write down your prescriptions, including the dose, and check each one against next year's list before you decide anything.
Medicare Advantage plans often bundle extras and may have lower monthly premiums, but they generally ask you to stay within a network. Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies usually cost more each month and work with any doctor who accepts Medicare. Neither one is better in the abstract. The right answer depends on your doctors, your prescriptions, your budget and how much you travel.
Programmes exist to help with Part D costs — the best known is Extra Help, also called the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS). Income and resource limits apply, and they are updated each year, so people who did not qualify a few years ago sometimes qualify now. It costs nothing to ask, and a licensed agent can tell you quickly whether it is worth applying.
“Reviewing your coverage once a year isn't a sign that something is wrong. It's simply good housekeeping.”
The Editors — Coverage Notes
Before You Renew
Keep this beside you when the envelope arrives. Tick them off mentally, one at a time.
Reference
Six words that appear in almost every letter your plan sends you.
Free Help
Bring your prescriptions and your doctors' names. A licensed agent can show you which plans are available where you live, explain the trade-offs in plain words, and answer questions for as long as you need. There is no cost and no obligation to switch.
Free · No obligation · You choose whether to enroll
From Our Readers
A short look is still worth it. You may well decide to stay — most readers who review their plan do exactly that — but you'll know what next year's costs are instead of finding out in January.
No. Licensed agents are generally compensated by the insurance companies whose plans they offer, not by you. Ask which carriers an agent represents so you understand the range of options being shown.
Your Medicare card, a list of your prescriptions with doses, the names of the doctors you want to keep, and your ZIP code. That is enough for a useful first conversation.