The 2027 Medicare Checklist

Print it, keep it by the phone, and work down it a line at a time. Nothing on it is urgent today — it is simply everything worth knowing, in the order it matters.

• ✓The seven-month window around your 65th birthday, with space to write your own dates
• ✓All six election periods on one calendar, including October 15 to December 7
• ✓The projected 2027 costs — premiums, deductibles and the prescription spending cap
• ✓What to gather before any conversation: doctors, prescriptions, pharmacy, budget
• ✓The questions to ask before you say yes to any plan
• ✓Scope of Appointment, healthcare power of attorney and HIPAA release, explained plainly
• ✓What a legitimate agent will never ask you for

Prefer the whole story? The Family Guide to Medicare covers all of it in fifteen chapters.

Projected 2027 amounts. Federal figures are confirmed each fall — always verify the current numbers at Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE before making a decision.