Medicare enrollment dates
See your seven-month Initial Enrollment Period, your earliest coverage date and your Medigap open enrollment window.
Part D is Medicare prescription drug coverage. With Original Medicare, alone or with a Medigap plan, you get it through a stand-alone drug plan. The right one covers your medicines at the pharmacy you use for the lowest total cost across the year, which is rarely the one with the lowest premium.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 10 organizations which offer 106 products 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. Headwaters Health and Wealth is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. Medicare has neither endorsed nor reviewed this information.
For 2027 the CMS Landscape lists 8 stand-alone Part D plans in Colorado, with monthly premiums from $5.30 to $260.20 and deductibles from $300 to $700 (CMS CY2027 Landscape). Premium is only one piece. Each plan has its own drug list (formulary), its own tiers and its own preferred pharmacies, so two plans with similar premiums can be hundreds of dollars apart once your prescriptions are priced.
There is a yearly cap on what you pay out of pocket for covered Part D drugs. In 2026 the cap is $2,100; once you reach it, covered drugs cost you $0 for the rest of the year. For 2027 CMS has set the cap at $2,400 and the most a plan's deductible can be at $700 (CMS CY2027 Rate Announcement). The cap helps most if you take expensive medicines, but how quickly you reach it, and what you pay on the way, still depends on the plan.
A worked example, as an illustration only. Suppose your covered prescriptions are costly enough to reach the cap in 2027. You pay up to $700 first if your plan uses the full deductible, then your copays or coinsurance until your out-of-pocket spending reaches $2,400, then $0 for covered drugs for the rest of the year. Under the 2026 rules the same year stopped at $2,100, so the most you can spend on covered drugs rises by $300. Your premium is paid on top of the cap, and drugs not on the plan's list do not count toward it.
Timing matters. If you go 63 days or more in a row without Part D or other creditable drug coverage after your Initial Enrollment Period, Medicare adds a late enrollment penalty to your premium for as long as you have Part D. It is 1% of the national base premium for each full month without coverage, rounded to the nearest 10 cents (Medicare.gov). The base premium is $38.99 in 2026 and $41.33 in 2027 (CMS), so 20 months without coverage adds $7.80 a month in 2026 and $8.30 a month in 2027, recalculated every year.
Many Medicare Advantage plans include Part D, so this page is mainly for people on Original Medicare. If you are comparing the two routes, I price your drugs both ways so the comparison is fair.
Your needs and situation are unique, and I am committed to spending the time to get to know you so you get coverage and support that fits your lifestyle.
Extra Help, the federal program that lowers Part D premiums and copays for people with limited income and savings, is applied for through Social Security. People enrolled in a Health First Colorado Medicare Savings Program qualify for Extra Help automatically.
Colorado's Medicare Savings Programs, run by Health First Colorado, can also pay your Part B premium. For 2026 the income limits for a single person run from $1,350 a month (QMB) to $1,816 a month (QI-1) (Colorado HCPF), and working income can raise the limit. Apply through your county human services office or PEAK.
The Colorado SHIP helpline, 1-888-696-7213, offers unbiased counseling on Part D at no cost.
You have Original Medicare, alone or with a Medigap plan, and need drug coverage. Or you already have a Part D plan and want to know whether it still fits your 2027 prescriptions.
Not without pricing your drugs. A low premium plan can put one of your medicines on a high tier or leave it off the drug list, and that can cost more over a year than the premium saves. Compare the total yearly cost for your exact prescriptions at your pharmacy, then decide.
Sources: CY2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2027) ; CY2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Rate Announcement (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026/2027) ; CY2027 Part D national average bid and base beneficiary premium (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2027) ; Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), Health First Colorado (Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, 2026) . Reviewed 2026-10-14.
Free calculators for this coverage. Results are estimates, not quotes.
See your seven-month Initial Enrollment Period, your earliest coverage date and your Medigap open enrollment window.
See what going without drug coverage adds to your Part D premium, for as long as you keep Part D.
Estimate what your prescriptions cost you in a year on the 2026 Part D standard benefit, including the $2,100 cap.
See whether your income adds a surcharge to your Part B and Part D premiums, and how much.
Compare what each path could cost you in a typical year and in a heavy-use year.
How Medicare drug coverage works for 2027: the $700 maximum deductible, the $2,400 out-of-pocket cap, worked yearly cost examples, the late penalty, and all 8 standalone Part D plans in Colorado.
A step-by-step way to confirm your doctors are in network and your prescriptions are covered before you choose a 2027 Medicare plan: a Medicare Plan Finder walkthrough, how to read a drug tier, prior authorization and step therapy, a Brighton worked example and the questions to ask the office and the pharmacy.
If your income is limited, Health First Colorado can pay your Medicare premiums through a Medicare Savings Program, and Extra Help can lower your drug costs. The 2026 Colorado limits, a worked example, and how to apply.
Every 2026 Medicare cost in one place from CMS: Part A, the $202.90 Part B premium and $283 deductible, IRMAA, late penalties, Part D limits for 2026 and 2027, and a worked yearly total near Brighton.
What to check every fall before your Medicare plan renews: the Annual Notice of Change, your drugs and pharmacy, your doctors, a worked total yearly cost comparison, and the questions to ask before December 7, 2026.
Not without pricing your drugs. A low premium plan can put one of your medicines on a high tier or leave it off the drug list, and that can cost more over a year than the premium saves. Compare the total yearly cost for your exact prescriptions at your pharmacy, then decide.
For 2027 CMS has set the yearly out-of-pocket threshold for covered Part D drugs at $2,400, up from $2,100 in 2026, and the most a plan's deductible can be at $700. Once you reach the cap, covered drugs cost you $0 for the rest of the year. Premiums are paid on top.
Join a Part D plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage, when you first get Medicare, unless you have creditable drug coverage from an employer or another source. A gap of 63 days or more in a row without creditable coverage can add a penalty for as long as you have Part D.
Usually only during Annual Enrollment, October 15 to December 7. Special Enrollment Periods apply after events such as a move or qualifying for Extra Help or Health First Colorado. That is why pricing your drugs carefully each fall matters.
Apply for Extra Help through Social Security, and check Health First Colorado Medicare Savings Programs through your county human services office or PEAK. Enrolling in a Medicare Savings Program qualifies you for Extra Help automatically.
Part D Prescription Drug Plans in Brighton, the northeast Denver metro and across Colorado: no pressure, plain answers, and a review every year.
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Content reviewed by Lisa Asmussen, Medicare Broker and Licensed Insurance Agent at Headwaters Health and Wealth in Brighton, Colorado, certified to sell Medicare plans since 2018 (8 years). Last updated .