Kentucky’s average monthly Medicare Advantage premium drops by about half for 2027, from $10.02 to $4.90, and Georgia’s falls from $6.55 to $2.99, according to the CMS state fact sheets released Sept. 28. Among the states read, from Alabama through Kentucky, the two posted the deepest percentage cuts, at 51 percent and 54 percent.
Kentucky’s cut, month by month and over a year
The CMS fact sheets describe the Kentucky figure as the way “the average monthly MA plan premium changed” between 2026 and 2027. The reduction is $5.12 a month. Multiplied by 12, the average goes from $120.24 to $58.80 a year, a difference of $61.44. Kentucky’s plan count also grows, from 114 to 123, and the sheet lists eight stand-alone drug plans for 2027.
Georgia’s steeper drop from a lower starting point
Georgia begins from a smaller average and falls further in relative terms. Its $3.56 monthly reduction takes the annualized figure from $78.60 to $35.88, or $42.72 less. The state’s plan count edges down from 166 to 161, and the sheet lists nine stand-alone drug plans. Georgia’s Medicare enrollment appears on the sheet as 2,029,629. Its new $2.99 average is the fourth-lowest of the 17 for 2027, behind only Arkansas ($1.47), Florida ($2.13) and Arizona ($2.81), and Kentucky’s $4.90 is the fifth-lowest.
How the 13 declines rank
Averages fell in 13 of the 17 jurisdictions with Medicare Advantage data in the block. Ranked by percentage, Georgia’s 54 percent leads, followed by Kentucky’s 51 percent, Kansas at 40 percent ($9.78 to $5.90), Arizona at 37 percent ($4.47 to $2.81), the District of Columbia at 36 percent ($26.28 to $16.91), Alabama at 31 percent ($11.25 to $7.76), Arkansas at 31 percent ($2.12 to $1.47) and Indiana at 30 percent ($13.22 to $9.27). Colorado, Illinois, Iowa and Delaware fell by 22, 16, 15 and 9 percent, and Hawaii’s slipped less than 1 percent, from $53.44 to $53.04.
Kentucky’s 2027 average is 49 cents for every dollar of the 2026 figure, which is the sense in which the cut is about half. Connecticut, Idaho, California and Florida are the four that went up, so the same sheets that show Georgia’s and Kentucky’s declines also show that the direction is not uniform.
Set against the Part B premium, the saving is modest
An average that falls by $61.44 a year in Kentucky or $42.72 in Georgia is small next to the bill Medicare Advantage members still carry. Medicare.gov lists the 2026 standard Part B premium at $202.90 a month, about $2,435 a year, and says Medicare Advantage members keep paying it in addition to any plan-specific costs. The Kentucky reduction amounts to about 2.5 percent of that annual Part B total and the Georgia reduction to about 1.8 percent.
The national picture is broader. CMS said in its Sept. 28 announcement that the weighted average monthly premium falls 16.5 percent nationally, from $14.37 to $12.00, so both states cut well beyond the national rate. The same release reports that approximately eight in 10 Medicare Advantage members can keep their plan at the same or a lower premium, that the drug portion of a Medicare Advantage premium averages $7, down from $11.32, and that the average stand-alone drug plan premium is $36, up less than $1 from $35.09. Members who take drug coverage through a separate plan therefore do not see a comparable drop.
Where state help sits beside a lower average
A lower average does not reach every household in the same way, and the programs that trim the rest of Medicare’s cost run through separate channels. Medicare.gov names two: Medicare Savings Programs, which are for people with limited income and resources, and Extra Help, which helps pay plan premiums and other drug costs.
In Georgia, the Georgia SHIP says its counseling is free and lists among its services help to “apply for financial assistance programs to reduce Medicare out-of-pocket expenses.” The number is 1-866-552-4464, option 4, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kentucky’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program provides counseling “at no charge by local, well-trained counselors,” with a statewide hotline at (877) 293-7447, option 2, and says it will help those who qualify to reach prescription drugs at no or reduced cost.
The decision window that follows the numbers
Medicare’s Open Enrollment runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Members may join, drop or switch a Medicare Advantage plan, change drug plans if they are in Original Medicare, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and a request received by Dec. 7 takes effect Jan. 1. The CMS sheets show the state average, not any single plan: Kentucky’s average of $4.90 is set across 123 plans and Georgia’s $2.99 across 161.
The national SHIP locator, supported by the Administration for Community Living at HHS, points to a state counselor for “one-on-one counseling from a trusted, unbiased source” and lists a toll-free line at 877-839-2675. Counselors help members weigh plan choices, a comparison that a state average cannot make.
Programs that lower Medicare premiums and drug costs
Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help are aimed at people with limited income and resources, and both reduce what a beneficiary pays toward premiums or drugs. The rules that apply depend on the state, and each program has its own application.
The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit holds 51 state Medicare cost-help packs, explains the new Part D out-of-pocket cap and includes a medication and cost tracker.
Read how the new Part D out-of-pocket cap works in The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit.
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.
