A federal program that held down stand-alone Medicare drug plan premiums for two years ends with 2026, and the average premium is still set to rise by less than $1. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said on Sept. 28 that stand-alone Part D plans will average $36 a month in 2027, up from $35.09 in 2026.
Part D plan choice: An average premium change does not show what one drug list costs in each plan; The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet. Run a drug list through plan-by-plan costs →
What the stabilization demonstration paid for
The Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration began in 2025 as a voluntary program for stand-alone drug plans, according to a CMS fact sheet from July 28. The fact sheet says it was meant to address volatility that followed the Inflation Reduction Act’s changes to the Part D benefit. The agency concluded it would end at the close of 2026 because plan sponsors “had sufficient experience under the redesigned Part D benefit to support their assumptions.” The Sept. 28 release describes the program as narrowed in 2026 and discontinued in 2027, with the market returning to normal conditions.
KFF’s Juliette Cubanski laid out the money in a July 29 analysis. The demonstration cut the base beneficiary premium by $15 in 2025 and $10 in 2026, and capped monthly premium increases at $35 in 2025 and $50 in 2026. Using MedPAC data, KFF put the average reduction in a stand-alone plan’s premium at $26 in 2025 and $16 in 2026, at a total cost of $9.8 billion across the two years. Cubanski wrote that without the extra subsidies in 2027, some stand-alone enrollees could face a larger premium increase. KFF counted 24.9 million people in stand-alone plans in 2026, up from 22.8 million in 2024, which is the population the change reaches.
An average of $36 and the enrollees who will not pay it
The CMS announcement is a national average, and the $35.09 to $36 move is under $1 a month, which is less than about $11 across a full year for a member paying exactly the average. An earlier count points the other way for individuals. The Center for Medicare Advocacy reported on Aug. 6, citing figures the administration gave The Wall Street Journal, that around 75% of stand-alone drug plan enrollees would see their premiums increase next year.
The two numbers measure different things and were published seven weeks apart. One is an average price across plans, the other a count of enrollees whose own premium rises. A small average change can sit alongside increases for a large share of members, because averages net out members whose premiums fall against those whose premiums rise, and the 2027 average alone does not say which members those are.
Base premium and the 6% limit that still apply
The stabilization demonstration is separate from the base beneficiary premium, which CMS set at $41.33 for 2027 from a national average monthly bid amount of $296.05. CMS describes the base premium as the starting point for calculating a plan-specific basic Part D premium. The fact sheet defines the national average monthly bid amount as the enrollment-weighted average of all applicable Part D plan bids. The fact sheet says the Inflation Reduction Act caps annual increases in that base premium at 6% for each year from 2024 through 2029,, a provision the fact sheet treats separately from the demonstration.
Spending on the drugs themselves has a separate ceiling. Medicare.gov says out-of-pocket spending on covered Part D drugs reaches the cap at $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, a $300 increase between the two years, after which catastrophic coverage removes cost-sharing for covered drugs for the rest of the year.
Pricing one drug list across many stand-alone plans before Dec. 7
CMS said 88% of beneficiaries without low-income assistance can reach a basic stand-alone plan at $10.30 a month or less and 93% can reach an enhanced plan under $6. Those access figures describe the cheapest plans available, not the plan that covers a particular member’s drugs at the lowest total cost, and a premium that looks small can sit beside a formulary that leaves a needed medication out of the plan’s coverage.
The 88% and 93% figures leave out people who receive Extra Help, whose premiums and cost-sharing follow a separate schedule. For everyone else, the plan-by-plan spread is what the average conceals, and the $36 figure gives no view of it.
Two dates frame the decision. Medicare.gov’s Open Enrollment page says people in Original Medicare can join, drop or switch a drug plan from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, that the plan must receive the request by Dec. 7 and that changes take effect Jan. 1. Members with limited income can apply for Extra Help through the Social Security Administration, which accepts applications online, by phone and by TTY at any time before or after enrolling in Part D.
The free route for comparing plans is the Medicare Plan Finder and the 1-800-MEDICARE helpline, which CMS says operates 24 hours a day.
Matching a drug list to stand-alone plan costs when the average hides the spread
A stand-alone drug plan’s premium is only part of what it costs a member, because the total depends on which medications are on the member’s list and how each plan covers and charges for them. Members in stand-alone plans face that comparison across the whole market without a single number to rely on.
The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit contains a prescription-by-plan comparison and the Open Enrollment calendar, built for people sorting plans around a fixed drug list.
Match each prescription to a plan’s cost →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
