Stand-alone Medicare drug plan premiums to rise 50% in 2027 as Trump touts lower prices

Millions of Medicare enrollees who buy stand-alone prescription drug plans will see their average monthly premium rise 50% in 2027, a new analysis finds. The average goes from $34 a month to $51 ¹. KFF, a health information nonprofit, conducted the analysis ¹.

Nearly 25 million people are enrolled in these stand-alone plans. About 31 million more get drug coverage through Medicare Advantage, the private plans that replace traditional Medicare ¹.

Who pays more

About 10.4 million enrollees will pay a higher monthly premium in 2027 if they keep the same plan, KFF found. That is 76% of stand-alone enrollees who do not get low-income subsidies ¹.

The group includes millions of people now in a zero-premium plan. They will pay more automatically, because KFF found no zero-premium plans will be available ¹.

From Channel GOPTrump insults NBC reporter over abuse allegations questionDonald Trump · 170 plays · captioned, with the source named

Deductibles are also rising. The average will be $643 for stand-alone plans, up from $540 in 2026. For Medicare Advantage drug coverage, it will be $489, up from $360 ¹. Most enrollees will also pay coinsurance, a percentage of a drug's cost, instead of a fixed copayment. That can make out-of-pocket costs harder to predict ¹.

Medicare Advantage enrollees will see much smaller increases. KFF put their average drug premium at $9 a month in 2027, up less than $2 ¹.

Why it matters politically

President Donald Trump says his administration has won lower prices from drug makers. At an Ohio rally on Oct. 28, he made that claim ¹.

We have the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world.

How much people pay varies widely with the medicines they need and their coverage ¹. For many stand-alone enrollees, the premium bill is going up.

KFF said one possible cause is a July decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to end a three-year pilot program early. The program paid subsidies to stand-alone plans in 2025 and 2026 to keep premiums down ¹. KFF said ending the program removed a cap on year-over-year premium increases, and that monthly premium increases greater than $50 are possible for some stand-alone enrollees if they keep their plan ². CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz has called the subsidy program an insurance industry bailout ¹.

CMS projects a much smaller change: a $1 rise in the national average premium, from $35 to $36. KFF noted CMS did not explain its method and may have assumed people would switch to cheaper plans ¹². CMS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on KFF's findings ¹.

What happens next

Open enrollment runs through Dec. 7, and switching plans can avoid the average increase ¹. Robert Travis Scott of Abingdon, Virginia, got a notice that his AARP-UnitedHealthcare plan would rise from $39.60 a month to $121.90. He found a Humana plan with similar benefits for $19.30 and estimates he saved about $1,000 ¹.

With some plans increasing premiums substantially, the stakes are higher this year for people with Medicare stand-alone drug coverage if they sit on the sidelines during open enrollment

That matters because many enrollees do not compare plans or switch during open enrollment ². The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters who are watching drug costs will see premium notices arrive in the same weeks.

The Record

1. Jul 30, 2026CMS decided in July to end the Part D premium subsidy pilot early, after two of three years ¹.
2. Oct 2, 2026KFF published an analysis saying the end of the subsidies removes the cap on premium increases and that no zero-premium stand-alone plans will be available in 2027 ².
3. Oct 28, 2026Trump said at an Ohio rally that the U.S. now has the lowest drug prices in the world ¹.
4. Dec 7, 2026Medicare open enrollment ends ¹.

Sources

1. KFF Health News, “Medicare Drug Plans Are Hiking Premiums While Trump Claims Victory on Medicine Prices” (2026-10-30). kffhealthnews.org/medicare/medicare-drug-plans-premium-hikes
2. KFF, “Many Medicare Part D stand-alone drug plan enrollees will see modest premium increases for 2027 but others could pay much more if they don't switch plans” (2026-10-02). kff.org/medicare/many-medicare-part-d-stand-alone-drug-plan-

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.