TOPEKA – With over 571,000 Kansas residents depending on Medicare for health coverage, now is the critical time to act. The annual Medicare Fall Open Enrollment period is underway, running from October 15th through December 7th. This is your once-a-year chance to review and make changes to your benefits that will take effect on January 1st of the following year.

“Medicare coverage and costs can vary widely, so KDADS wants to make sure people understand how important it is to compare their current coverage with other options each year during the open enrollment period,” KDADS Medicare Grants Coordinator Janet Boskill said. “We encourage Kansans to review their healthcare coverage options carefully to ensure they have the best plan to meet their needs and avoid being locked into their current plan for another year if it doesn’t meet those needs.”

By shopping available plans and comparing costs, beneficiaries may be able to find a Medicare health or drug plan with better coverage or a lower premium in 2026. Help is out there:

• The Medicare Plan Finder is an online tool for comparing pricing for Original Medicare, Medicare prescription drug plans, Medicare Advantage plans, and Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policies.
• 1-800-MEDICARE is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help in English, Spanish, and more than 200 additional languages.
• Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas is a free program that offers Kansans unbiased assistance with questions about Medicare and other insurance issues. SHICK has counselors throughout the state to educate and assist the public in making informed decisions for each situation. This counseling service is free at l-800-860-5260.

Medicare Open Enrollment is a time for those enrolled in Medicare to review and adjust their coverage. During this period, participants can:

• Switch between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.
• Enroll, drop, or switch prescription drug plans (Part D).
• Switch Medicare Advantage plans (Part C).  (This can also be done during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1^st through March 31^st.)

Beneficiaries can only make changes during this annual window unless they qualify for a special enrollment period due to certain life events, such as moving or losing other insurance coverage.

Suppose you’re already enrolled in a Medicare Part D prescription plan or a Medicare Advantage Plan and don’t want to change your coverage for 2026. In that case, you don’t need to do anything during open enrollment, assuming your current plan will still be available in 2026. If your plan is discontinued and isn’t eligible for renewal, you will receive a nonrenewal notice from your carrier before open enrollment.

Each year, there’s a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1^st through March 31^st. Suppose you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan and want to change your health plan. This is a time when you can review your coverage, switch to a different Medicare Advantage Plan with or without drug coverage, or go back to your original Medicare. If needed, join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.

Changes to be aware of for 2026 include:

• Medicare Advantage
  • The average monthly Medicare Advantage plan premium changed from $9.54 in 2025 to $10.11 in 2026.
  • There are 87 Medicare Advantage plans available in Kansas for 2026, an increase from 80 in 2025.
  • 95.2% of people with Medicare have access to a Medicare Advantage plan.
  • $0 is the lowest monthly premium for a Medicare Advantage plan.
  • 95.92% of people with Medicare will have access to a Medicare Advantage plan with a $0 monthly premium.

•  Medicare Part D
  • In 2026, 12 stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans will be available. All individuals with Medicare have access to a Medicare prescription drug plan.
  • 66.26% of people with a stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan have access to a plan with a lower premium than what they paid in 2025.
  • 17.49% of people with a stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan get ‘Extra Help.’
  • $0 is the lowest monthly premium for a stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan. $147 is the highest monthly premium.

Total Medicare Part D premiums will also remain stable. In 2026, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, people with Medicare prescription drug coverage will benefit from a $2,100 out-of-pocket cap on their annual prescription drug costs, further making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors and people with disabilities. Because of the Inflation Reduction Act, people with Medicare coverage already see improved benefits, including a $35 cost-sharing limit on a month’s supply of each covered insulin product and recommended adult vaccines under Medicare Part D at no cost.  The $35 cost-sharing limit on insulin does not include combination insulin products.  People with Medicare prescription drug coverage who fall into the catastrophic phase of the prescription drug benefit will not have to pay anything out of pocket for covered Medicare prescription drugs.

Additionally, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which will be offered by all Part D plans starting in 2025, will allow people with Medicare Part D coverage the option to spread the costs of their prescription drugs over the calendar year. Learn more about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan and how it may help people with Medicare.  Additionally, the Medicare prescription payment plan, first introduced in 2025, will continue to be offered by all Part D plans in 2026. This will allow people with Medicare Part D coverage the ability to spread the costs of their prescription drugs evenly over the course of the calendar year.

The Low-Income Subsidy Program, called ‘Extra Help,’ is a Medicare program that helps qualifying individuals pay Part D premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and other costs. According to estimates, enrollees can save nearly $300 annually on average. Millions of seniors and people with disabilities can benefit from this program but aren’t enrolled. Individuals who enroll in MSPs automatically qualify for help affording prescription drugs through the “Extra Help’ program.

State-by-state fact Sheets are available at 2026-ma-part-d-landscape-state-state-fact-sheet.pdf (Kansas’s Fact Sheet is on pages 49-51).

If you have questions about Medicare Open Enrollment and would like help navigating through the complexities of it, please call our SHICK hotline at 1-800-860-5260 to speak with a free, unbiased, confidential counselor in your area today!

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