Your Annual Medicare Review Checklist for Arizona
Medicare plans change every January. Here is a step-by-step checklist for reviewing your coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 to December 7, 2026, before your 2027 plan starts.
Review your Medicare coverage every fall, even if you are happy with it. Plans can change premiums, copays, networks and drug lists each January, and your health and prescriptions change too. Start with the Annual Notice of Change your plan mailed by the end of September, confirm your doctors and drugs for 2027, compare your total expected cost with other plans, and make any switch during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 to December 7, 2026. If you do nothing, most plans renew automatically, which is fine only if the plan still fits.
Step 1: read your Annual Notice of Change
Every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan must send members an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by September 30. It lists what is changing next year: premium, deductible, copays, out-of-pocket maximum, drug tiers and pharmacy network. Read it with a highlighter and mark anything that affects you.
If your plan is ending, you will receive a non-renewal notice instead. That gives you a Special Enrollment Period, and if you want to move to a Medicare Supplement, it can also give you a federal guaranteed-issue right, which matters in Arizona because there is no birthday rule.
Step 2: check what changed in your own life
This step is where most reviews find something. A new specialist who is out of network, a new drug on a high tier, or a drop in income that opens the door to Extra Help can each change which plan fits you. If anything on this list applies to you, write it down before you look at a single plan, so the comparison starts from your needs rather than from the advertising.
If you care for a parent or spouse, do this step with them. They know which doctors they actually see and which prescriptions they actually fill; the paperwork does not always match.
- New diagnoses, planned surgeries or upcoming procedures.
- New prescriptions, dose changes or drugs you have stopped.
- New doctors or specialists, or a doctor who has retired or moved.
- A move, even within the East Valley, which can change which plans serve you.
- Changes in income: retirement, a spouse's death, or a pension change. You may now qualify for a Medicare Savings Program or Extra Help, or need to appeal IRMAA with form SSA-44.
- Travel plans: more time out of state may change whether a local network still works.
Step 3: confirm doctors and drugs for 2027
Check your doctors in your plan's 2027 provider directory and call their offices to confirm. Run every prescription through your plan's 2027 formulary, noting the tier, any new restrictions and the price at your pharmacy. Our guide to checking doctors and drugs walks through each step.
For 2027 the Part D deductible can be up to $700 and the out-of-pocket cap is $2,400, up from $615 and $2,100 in 2026 (CMS CY2027 Rate Announcement). If you take expensive drugs, expect to reach the cap sooner in the year and budget for it, or use the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan to spread the cost.
Step 4: compare your total cost
Compare a quiet year and a hard year. A plan that saves $20 a month but has a $3,000 higher out-of-pocket maximum may not be the bargain it looks like.
| Item | Current plan (2027) | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan premium × 12 | ||
| Part B premium (2026: $202.90 a month; 2027 announced in November) | ||
| Medical deductible | ||
| Expected copays for your usual visits | ||
| Out-of-pocket maximum (worst-case medical year) | ||
| Estimated yearly drug cost (Plan Finder) | ||
| Doctors all in network? | ||
| Drug restrictions? |
Step 5: look at what is new in your county
New plans appear and old ones end each year. According to the CY2027 CMS Landscape file, Maricopa County has 52 standard Medicare Advantage plans from 13 companies for 2027, and Pinal County has 47 from 10 companies, plus Special Needs Plans in both counties and 9 standalone Part D plans statewide. Star ratings shown for these plans are 2026 ratings; the highest locally is 4.5 stars.
More choice is not automatically better. What you are looking for is a plan that covers your doctors and drugs at a lower total cost, or with better protection, than the one you have.
If you live in Pinal County, in San Tan Valley, Casa Grande or Maricopa, do not assume a plan you saw advertised in Phoenix is offered at your address. Plans are approved county by county, and Pinal has fewer plans and companies than Maricopa for 2027. Always search with your own ZIP code.
Step 6: if you have a supplement, review it too
Medicare Supplement policies do not change benefits each year, because the plan letters are standardized, but premiums do rise. If your premium has climbed, you can ask other companies for quotes. In Arizona there is no birthday rule, so outside a guaranteed-issue situation a new company may ask health questions. Do not cancel your current policy until a new one is approved.
Review your standalone Part D plan every year, even if your supplement stays the same. Part D formularies and pharmacy networks change annually.
Step 7: decide, enroll and confirm
Be cautious with unsolicited calls during enrollment season. Medicare will not call you to sell a plan, and a legitimate agent will not ask for your Medicare number before you have decided to enroll. If a call feels wrong, hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE or Arizona SHIP. If you think your information was misused, the Arizona Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-800-432-4040 can help you report it.
- If your plan still fits, you do not need to do anything; it renews January 1.
- If you are switching, enroll in the new plan between October 15 and December 7. Joining a new Medicare Advantage or Part D plan automatically ends the old one; you do not need to cancel it separately.
- If you are leaving Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare and a supplement, get the supplement approved first, then add a Part D plan.
- Watch for the confirmation letter and new member card, and keep the plan's Evidence of Coverage.
- Bring your new card to your first doctor and pharmacy visit in January.
- If the new plan is not working, Medicare Advantage members have one more change from January 1 to March 31.
Book your review with us
Every fall, Rise Up Benefits Group sits down with clients in Chandler and across the East Valley to run this checklist together, in our office at 2160 N Alma School Road or by phone. We also hold Medicare workshops during the Annual Enrollment Period; see our Seminars and Events pages for dates. Arizona SHIP offers unbiased reviews too, at 1-800-432-4040.
The bottom line
Treat October 15 to December 7, 2026 as your yearly Medicare check-up. Read your Annual Notice of Change, note what changed in your life, confirm your doctors and drugs for 2027, compare total cost for a quiet year and a hard year, and switch only if something fits better. Fifteen minutes with your list can save real money and stress next year. And if your plan still fits after all of that, you can renew with confidence instead of by default.
Want to go through this with someone?
Viola Lucero and the Rise Up Benefits team in Chandler will go through your doctors, your prescriptions and your real numbers, and explain plainly what we found. We speak insurance, so you don't have to.
Prefer to learn in a group? See our Medicare workshops online or in Chandler, the events calendar, and official CMS videos and forms on our Resources page.
Sources
- CY2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Rate Announcement, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape, contract year 2027 (Maricopa and Pinal counties, Arizona), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Arizona DES Medicare Assistance: State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), Arizona Department of Economic Security
Please note: We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. Rise Up Benefits Group is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. Medicare has neither endorsed nor reviewed this information.