CMS recently released 2027 Medicare Part D beneficiary premiums, along with each plan’s deductible and benefit type. The headline itself appears reassuring: the average beneficiary premium for stand-alone drug plans is projected to rise by less than $1 a month, to $36.
However, beyond that headline, CMS’s data show a fundamental and ongoing deterioration of the stand-alone Part D market. Total program costs continue to explode, up 25 percent from 2026 to 2027, with the federal government picking up most of the higher tab. This is much faster than the growth in the rest of Medicare. Most enrollees who stay in their original plans face substantially higher premiums. And the market is splitting in two: the middle is disappearing, premiums across the more expensive half of plans are rising roughly 45 percent, and the total number of available plans fell from 367 to 323.
