How to Help a Parent With Medicare Open Enrollment

Every fall, Medicare plans change their premiums, drug lists, and provider networks for the coming year. Open Enrollment is the window when your parent can respond to those changes. It's also the time of year adult children get pulled in, because comparing plans is genuinely confusing. Here's how to help without taking over.

What your parent can change during Open Enrollment

• Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, or from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare.
• Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
• Join, drop, or switch a Part D prescription drug plan.

Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies follow different rules and aren't part of this window. That matters if your parent is thinking about leaving Medicare Advantage. See the caution below.

Step 1: Find the Annual Notice of Change

If your parent has a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, the plan sends an Annual Notice of Change, usually by September 30. It lists what's different next year. Look for:

• The monthly premium
• The maximum out-of-pocket amount (Medicare Advantage)
• Copays for primary care, specialists, and hospital stays
• The Part D deductible, and whether any of your parent's drugs moved to a different tier
• Whether their doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies are still in the network
• Changes to extra benefits like dental, vision, or hearing

If you can't find the letter, call the phone number on your parent's plan card and ask for a copy.

Step 2: Write down what your parent actually uses

A plan is only "better" if it covers what your parent needs. Before you compare anything, make a short list of:

1. Every prescription, with the dose. Plan Finder prices drug coverage based on exact drugs and doses.
2. Every doctor and specialist they want to keep seeing.
3. The pharmacy they use, and whether they use mail order.
4. Anything coming up, such as a planned surgery, new specialist, or physical therapy.

Step 3: Compare plans on Medicare.gov

The official tool is the Medicare Plan Finder. Enter your parent's ZIP code, drugs, and pharmacy to see estimated yearly costs for the plans available where they live. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).

For 2027, the cap on out-of-pocket costs for covered Part D drugs is $2,400, up from $2,100 in 2026, and the maximum standard Part D deductible rises to $700. If your parent takes expensive medications, those numbers are worth noticing.

Step 4: Get free, unbiased help

Every state has a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) that offers free, confidential Medicare counseling from trained staff and volunteers. Counselors can compare plans with you and your parent. Find your parent's state program at shiphelp.org or call 1-877-839-2675. Some states use a different name, such as HICAP, SHIBA, or APPRISE.

Who gets to decide

Your parent makes the final decision unless you're legally authorized to act for them, for example under a power of attorney. If you'd like to be able to call Medicare about your parent's coverage, your parent can fill out Medicare's Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form (CMS-10106). It lets 1-800-MEDICARE share information with up to two people they name, and it can be submitted through their Medicare.gov account or by mail.

If you miss the December 7 deadline

If your parent is already in a Medicare Advantage plan, there's a second window from January 1 through March 31. During it, they can make one change: switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or drop Medicare Advantage, return to Original Medicare, and join a separate Part D plan.

Watch for Medicare scams

Open Enrollment is peak season for scam calls. The FTC says Medicare will never unexpectedly call, email, or text to ask for a Medicare, Social Security, or bank account number, and Medicare cards are free. If a caller claims to be from Medicare, your parent should hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE directly. Caller ID can be faked.

Keep the details where your family can find them

Once a plan is chosen, the people helping your parent need to know which plan it is and how to reach it. MyParentHQ keeps your parent's insurance details next to their medication list, conditions, and doctors, so next fall you're starting from an up-to-date list instead of rebuilding it. Insurance is visible to the Owner and Trusted Members only, never to hired caregivers.

This guide is general information, not insurance or legal advice. Plans and costs vary by location, so confirm details with Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or a SHIP counselor. MyParentHQ is not affiliated with Medicare or any government agency.