Part D Changes to Watch This AEP: Don't Let Your Drug Plan Auto-Renew

If you do nothing during AEP, your Part D drug plan simply renews for next year. That sounds convenient. It is also one of the most expensive Medicare mistakes I see, because the plan that renews is rarely the plan you signed up for.

What changes every January

• The formulary, meaning which drugs are covered at all
• The tier each drug sits on, which sets your copay or coinsurance
• The deductible and how it applies to each tier
• The pharmacy network, including which pharmacies count as preferred
• The premium, which can jump significantly in a single year

A real-world example

A client came to me paying a $12 premium and loving her plan. Her ANOC letter showed the premium rising to $38 and two of her medications moving up a tier. Her projected annual cost was going up by more than $900. We found a plan covering the same drugs at her same pharmacy for roughly $400 less per year. Fifteen minutes of comparison, real money saved.

How to compare the right way

• Enter your exact medication list, doses, and pharmacy into Medicare's Plan Finder at Medicare.gov
• Sort results by total annual cost, not premium
• Check whether your pharmacy is preferred, since preferred cost sharing is often much lower
• Confirm any restrictions like prior authorization or quantity limits on your specific drugs

The $2,100 cap matters

In 2026, Part D caps your out-of-pocket drug spending at $2,100 for the year. If you take expensive medications, hitting the cap means your prescriptions are covered at 100% after that point. The cap makes plan choice less scary for high-cost drugs, but the wrong plan can still cost you more on the way there.

Set aside twenty minutes between October 15 and December 7. If you want a second set of eyes, I run free Part D comparisons for clients across all 15 states where I am licensed.