Medicare Drug Premiums to Jump 50% in 2027, KFF Finds

Medicare drug premiums are about to hit older Americans hard, and if your grandparents or parents are on Medicare, this one lands close to home. A new KFF analysis finds the average monthly premium for stand-alone drug plans will jump fifty percent in 2027, from thirty-four dollars to fifty-one dollars, for anyone who does not switch plans.

The numbers come from research released on October 30, according to KFF. The good news is that the hike is avoidable for people who shop around before open enrollment closes on December 7.

What the numbers actually say

Stand-alone prescription drug plans, often called PDPs, are the add-on policies people buy to cover medicine when they use traditional Medicare. KFF projects the average premium rises by seventeen dollars a month, which works out to roughly two hundred and four dollars more per year for the typical enrollee.

Deductibles are climbing too. The average deductible for stand-alone plans will be six hundred and forty-three dollars in 2027, up from five hundred and forty dollars in 2026, according to KFF Health News.

About ten point four million enrollees, or seventy-six percent of people in stand-alone plans who do not get low-income subsidies, will pay a higher premium in 2027 if they keep the same plan, KFF found. Nearly twenty-five million people are enrolled in these plans overall.

Why Medicare Advantage looks so different

Here is the twist. People who get drug coverage bundled inside private Medicare Advantage plans will see a much smaller change. Their drug coverage averages nine dollars a month in 2027, an increase of less than two dollars.

That gap is more than five times, and it raises a pointed question about how the two sides of the market are funded. KFF has separately argued that Medicare Advantage rebates disadvantage the stand-alone drug plan market, which helps explain why PDP prices are moving so fast.

Deductibles follow the same pattern. Advantage drug coverage averages four hundred and eighty-nine dollars next year, up from three hundred and sixty, which is still lower than stand-alone plans.

Different sources, different math

Not every estimate looks the same, and that matters before anyone panics. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the average stand-alone premium rises by less than a dollar, from about thirty-five dollars to thirty-six dollars, according to AARP.

The catch is who gets counted. For the eighty-three percent of stand-alone enrollees who do not receive Extra Help with drug costs, consulting firm Avalere Health estimates the average premium rises fifty percent, from about thirty-nine dollars to roughly fifty-eight dollars.

In plain terms, the government average is dragged down by low-income enrollees whose premiums are subsidized. Everyone else is more likely to feel the full jump if they stay put.

The politics behind the price tag

The timing is awkward for the White House. KFF Health News framed the story around President Donald Trump claiming victory on medicine prices while plans quietly raise what people pay each month. Negotiated prices for fifteen more drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, also start in 2027.

Lower drug prices and higher premiums can both be true at once, because insurers set premiums based on expected costs and risk, not only sticker prices. That is why checking your actual plan matters more than any headline average.

What to do before December 7

Open enrollment runs through December 7, and switching is free. Anyone on a stand-alone plan can compare options on the official Medicare site, entering their exact medications to see yearly totals, not just monthly premiums.

Some people have no choice but to move. KFF reports that more than four million beneficiaries will have their Medicare Advantage or stand-alone drug plan terminated at the end of 2026, so doing nothing could mean losing coverage entirely.

If you are a student, a young worker, or the family tech support, this is the moment to sit down with the older people in your life. A twenty-minute comparison could save a few hundred dollars a year. For more health coverage, check out our health section and our politics coverage.