The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services put the 2027 national average monthly bid for Part D drug plans at $296.05. The agency published the figure in its July 28, 2026 bid release, along with a 2027 base beneficiary premium of $41.33 and word that the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration will stop at the end of December. Open enrollment runs Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, so people are picking 2027 drug coverage while that program winds down.
The change matters most to people in a stand-alone Part D plan, because the demonstration was built for stand-alone plans, and to anyone in a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage who is weighing a switch. Each of them has until Dec. 7 to price a 2027 plan against the exact drugs on their list. A plan that was cheapest this year may not be next year, and the decision is whether to keep the current plan or move to one that costs less for those prescriptions.
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What does the $296.05 bid actually set?
CMS describes the national average monthly bid amount as an enrollment-weighted average of the bids Part D plans submitted for basic benefits. The agency uses it to calculate the government subsidies paid to plans. It is a benchmark built from what plan sponsors say the basic drug benefit costs, not a premium that any one member pays.
The same release sets the base beneficiary premium at $41.33 for 2027, up from $38.99 in 2026, according to CMS’s annual Parts C and D announcement. CMS says that premium comes from a statutory formula built on a percentage of the plan bids plus estimates of reinsurance costs. The 2027 amount is an increase of 6%, the yearly ceiling the Inflation Reduction Act’s premium stabilization provision sets for 2024 through 2029.
The stabilization demonstration stops after 2026
CMS started the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration in 2025 as a voluntary program for stand-alone prescription drug plans, meant to ease premium swings after the Inflation Reduction Act redesigned the drug benefit. The agency says it “will discontinue the demonstration at the end of CY 2026” so Part D can operate under traditional market conditions in 2027. CMS gives its bid analysis as the reason: plan sponsors now have enough experience with the redesigned benefit to support their 2027 bids.
The demonstration had already shrunk. CMS’s Sept. 28 release on 2027 Medicare plans says it was narrowed for 2026 and is planned to end in 2027. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in that release that “by slashing handouts to big insurance companies, CMS is keeping premiums stable,” and urged beneficiaries to “use Open Enrollment as an opportunity to review their coverage.”
Where 2027 drug-plan premiums are projected to land
In the same Sept. 28 release, CMS projects the average stand-alone drug plan premium at $36 a month for 2027, against $35.09 in 2026, a rise of less than $1. It says 88% of beneficiaries who are not low-income can find a basic Part D plan at $10.30 or less a month. For Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage, CMS projects the average Part D premium after rebates at $7, down from $11.32.
Those are national averages, and the plan a person is in can look very different. KFF reports that 1.2 million people, about 6% of stand-alone plan enrollees, are in plans that are being terminated at the end of 2026, mostly SilverScript Choice from CVS Health and HealthSpring Extra Rx from Health Care Service Corporation. KFF also finds the average beneficiary will have 9 stand-alone plan options in 2027, down from 11 in 2026, in its analysis of CMS plan data.
How to compare plans before Dec. 7
Medicare.gov’s Plan Finder compares plans on premiums, costs and benefits, and Medicare says to enter every prescription drug taken regularly for the most accurate estimate. Under Medicare’s enrollment rules, a plan must receive the request by Dec. 7 for coverage to start on Jan. 1.
Free help is available from 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), open 24 hours a day, and from a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor, who is not tied to any insurer. People already in a Medicare Advantage plan get a second window from Jan. 1 to March 31, which lets them switch Advantage plans or return to Original Medicare.
Will the drug plan that was cheapest this year still be cheapest in January?
An average premium says little about one person’s drug list, and the end of the stabilization demonstration is one more reason to price 2027 before Dec. 7.
“The Medicare Money Bundle” puts eight Medicare guides in one download, including Prescription Cost Cutter, which covers the drug cap, monthly payments, generics and exceptions.
Open Enrollment in an Afternoon in the same bundle walks through Plan Finder in one sitting and ends with a keep-or-switch answer. The Extra Help & Medicare Savings Programs guide covers who qualifies, what each program pays and how to apply.
Get the Prescription Cost Cutter and the Extra Help guide in the Medicare Money Bundle →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the 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.
