Utah · Medicare Open Enrollment 2026 for 2027 coverage
When Does Medicare Open Enrollment Start in Utah for 2027?
October 15, 2026, and it closes December 7, 2026. Those dates are federal, so they are the same in Moab, St. George and Logan as everywhere else. What is worth a Utah calendar is everything around them: the letter that arrives first, the day 2027 plans become visible, the windows that share the name and are not this one, and who to call.
The bottom line
- Open Enrollment runs October 15, 2026 through December 7, 2026. Medicare.gov: changes "are effective January 1 of next year (the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7)."
- It is already in motion. Your Annual Notice of Change is due by September 30; plans may show you 2027 offerings from October 1, which is also when 2027 premiums and networks become checkable.
- It covers Medicare Advantage and Part D. It does not open a Medigap policy, sign you up for Part B, or have anything to do with the Marketplace window that starts November 1.
- After December 7, the doors narrow: one Advantage-to-Advantage or Advantage-to-Original change during January 1 – March 31, 2027, plus Special Enrollment Periods for specific life events.
- Free help exists on both sides of the counter: Utah SHIP at 1-800-541-7735 for unbiased counseling, a licensed agent for enrollment and follow-through. We do not offer every plan available in your area.
Every September the same call comes into our Moab office, from Cache County as often as from Grand: "When does open enrollment start, and do I need to do anything?" The first half has a one-line answer. The second half is the article. Open Enrollment is a six-week window with a two-week runway before it and a three-month coda after it, and the runway is where the decision actually gets made. Here is the whole calendar, with the sentence from Medicare.gov or the federal rule that sets each date, and a plain reading of what to do at each one.
The dates, in order
| Date | What happens | Where the date comes from | Your move |
|---|---|---|---|
| By September 30 | Your Annual Notice of Change arrives | 42 CFR §422.111(d)(2): plans must "notify all enrollees at least 15 days before the beginning of the Annual Coordinated Election Period." Fifteen days before October 15 is September 30. It lists every 2027 change to your current plan. | Read it |
| October 1 | 2027 plans may be marketed; 2027 data goes public | 42 CFR §422.2263(a): plans "may begin marketing prospective plan year offerings on October 1 of each year." This is the first day anyone can lawfully show you a 2027 plan, and the day 2027 premiums, networks and formularies become checkable. | Compare |
| October 15, 2026 | Open Enrollment begins | Medicare.gov: "Open Enrollment happens from October 15 – December 7." Join, drop or switch Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. | Act |
| December 7, 2026 | Open Enrollment ends | "The plan must get your enrollment request by December 7." Not postmarked, not started: received. | Deadline |
| January 1, 2027 | New coverage starts | "The changes you make during Open Enrollment are effective January 1 of next year." If you made no change, your current plan continues with its 2027 terms. | Effective |
| January 1 – March 31, 2027 | Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period | "Only if you're already in a Medicare Advantage Plan": one switch to another Advantage plan, or a return to Original Medicare plus a drug plan, effective "first of the month after the plan gets your request." | One change |
Sources: Medicare.gov, Open Enrollment; Medicare.gov, Joining a plan; 42 CFR §422.111; 42 CFR §422.2263. Stand-alone Part D plans follow the same fall calendar under Part 423.
Two of those dates do most of the work, and neither is October 15. The first is September 30. The Annual Notice of Change is the only document that tells you what your current plan will cost and cover next year, and the regulation puts it in your mailbox two weeks before you can do anything about it, on purpose. Our post on reading the Annual Notice of Change lists the six lines to check. The second is October 1. Until that day, nobody can lawfully show you a 2027 plan, and any 2027 premium you see quoted before it is a projection. From that day, Medicare.gov's plan finder and the plans' own directories carry 2027 data, and the comparison becomes real. The two weeks between October 1 and October 15 are the calmest time of the whole season to do it.
What you can change, and what you can't
Medicare.gov's enrollment-period table lists three things you can do during Open Enrollment: "Join, drop, or switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan with or without drug coverage (or add or drop drug coverage). Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan or from a Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare. Join, drop, or switch to another Medicare drug plan if you're in Original Medicare." That is the complete list. Several other things are called open enrollment in ordinary conversation, and none of them happen on October 15.
| Sounds like Open Enrollment | What actually governs it | |
|---|---|---|
| Medigap (Medicare Supplement) plans | Medicare.gov: "Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period is a one-time enrollment. It doesn't repeat every year, like the Medicare Open Enrollment Period." Utah adds a 60-day window from your birthday each year to change plans within your current company under Utah Code §31A-22-620(3)(g). October 15 does nothing for a Medigap policy. | Different window |
| Signing up for Part B itself | That is the General Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, and Medicare.gov warns "you might pay a monthly late enrollment penalty." Open Enrollment is for people who already have Medicare and want a different plan. | Different window |
| Marketplace (ACA) coverage for a spouse under 65 | The Utah Insurance Department lists November 1 as the start, December 15 for a January 1 start, and January 15 as the last day, and says the ACA window "is different from Medicare Open Enrollment and Medicaid." Two calendars in one household is normal; keep them apart. | Different window |
| A plan that is being discontinued | If your plan is leaving Medicare or your county, you also get a Special Enrollment Period that runs past December 7. Our December 7 post covers it. Open Enrollment is still the calmer path. | Different window |
Sources: Medicare.gov, Medigap basics; Utah Code §31A-22-620; Medicare.gov, General Enrollment Period; Utah Insurance Department, Health Insurance Open Enrollment.
The Medigap row is the one Utahns most often get backwards, and it cuts both ways. Open Enrollment lets you leave a Medicare Advantage plan for Original Medicare, but it does not make a Medigap company accept you; that depends on a federal guaranteed-issue right or on passing underwriting, as our post on Utah's birthday rule and Medicare Advantage explains. In the other direction, someone already on a Medigap policy does not need October 15 at all. Utah's birthday rule gives them 60 days from their birthday, every year, to move to a comparable or lower plan with the same company without health questions. Their fall task is only the Part D plan.
Want the comparison done before October 15, not on December 6?
Bring your Annual Notice of Change, your Medicare card, your prescription list and your doctors' names. From October 1 we can put your current plan's 2027 terms next to the alternatives available in your county, and if nothing needs to change we will tell you that too. Free, no pressure, from our Moab office serving all of Utah. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and we will say so when Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE is the better next call.
Book a plan review →The same calendar, a different shelf in every county
The dates are federal; the choices are local. CMS's 2026 landscape file lists 280 Medicare Advantage drug-plan offerings across Utah's 28 counties, 178 of them at a $0 plan premium, and the spread is wide. Salt Lake County has 24 plans from 7 carriers. Grand County, where our Moab office sits, has 8 from 2. A $0 plan premium is the plan's premium, not the cost of care; you still pay Part B, and the plan's copays and network come with it. The 2027 shelf, county by county, becomes public on October 1, and we will not quote a 2027 premium, carrier or star rating before it does.
What the county changes is how much of the comparison is about networks. In Grand County, where CDC PLACES puts high blood pressure at 33.3% of adults and diabetes at 11.2% (2023), specialty care often means Grand Junction or the Wasatch Front, so the first question about any 2027 plan is whether those doctors are in it. Our post on comparing two Medicare Advantage plans in Utah is the worksheet for that.
Where SHIP fits, and where an agent fits
Medicare.gov's joining-a-plan page names both, in the same list, and it is worth reading them as complements rather than rivals. On one side: "Contact your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to get free personalized health insurance counseling. SHIPs aren't connected to any insurance company or health plan." Utah's is the Senior Health Insurance Information Program, statewide at 1-800-541-7735, and our post on what Utah SHIP does and doesn't do covers it in full. On the other: "Talk to a trusted agent or broker – Check the rules they have to follow."
The practical split is this. A SHIP counselor will compare every plan in your county with no stake in the outcome, which is exactly what you want when you are deciding between structures, Original Medicare plus Medigap against Medicare Advantage, or when you simply want a second set of eyes. A licensed agent can enroll you, is paid by the plan you choose, and is the person you call in March when a claim goes sideways. Both are free to you. Both get busy in the same six weeks; SHIP appointments in particular fill between October 15 and December 7, which is one more argument for the October 1 to October 15 runway. One housekeeping note: from October 1, the disclaimer agents are required to read changes under CMS's Contract Year 2027 rule, and it no longer names SHIP. The program is unchanged. The script is.
What I would do this week
Find the Annual Notice of Change, or call your plan if it has not come by September 30. Read the five numbers: premium, deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, your drugs' tiers, your doctors' network status. Write down what changed. Then wait for October 1, and use the two quiet weeks before October 15 to put those five numbers next to the alternatives, with SHIP, with an agent, or on Medicare.gov's plan finder yourself. If your plan is still the right one, do nothing and let it renew on January 1, 2027. If it is not, enroll early enough that "the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7" is never a sentence you have to worry about.
How we know all this: the Medicare On Main Data Desk frames every article with public data — here, Medicare.gov's Open Enrollment and joining-a-plan pages for the October 15 – December 7 window, the December 7 receipt rule, the January 1 effective date, the January 1 – March 31, 2027 Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period and the SHIP and agent language; CMS's Open Enrollment partner page; 42 CFR §422.111(d)(2) for the Annual Notice of Change deadline of 15 days before the Annual Coordinated Election Period and §422.2263(a) for the October 1 marketing date, both read on the Cornell Legal Information Institute; Medicare.gov's Annual Notice of Change, General Enrollment Period and Medigap basics pages; the Utah Insurance Department's Marketplace open-enrollment dates; Utah Code §31A-22-620(3)(g) for the birthday window; the SHIP Technical Assistance Center's Utah listing for 1-800-541-7735; the Federal Register's Contract Year 2027 final rule for the October 1, 2026 disclaimer change; the CMS CY2026 Landscape file for Utah's 280 MA-PD offerings across 28 counties; and CDC PLACES county data (2023) for Grand County. No 2027 plan, premium, carrier or star rating is stated; CMS publishes that data on October 1. This is education, not advice; confirm your plan, costs and eligibility with a licensed agent, Utah SHIP, or Medicare.gov. We take no payment from any carrier to feature a plan.
Frequently asked questions
When does Medicare open enrollment start for 2027?
October 15, 2026. Medicare.gov: "Open Enrollment happens from October 15 – December 7 and is the time each year when you can make changes to your coverage." The dates are federal and identical in Utah and every other state. Changes take effect January 1, 2027. Before it opens, two things happen on a schedule: your Annual Notice of Change must arrive by September 30, and 2027 plans can be marketed and compared from October 1.
What is the deadline for Medicare open enrollment in 2026?
December 7, 2026, and the standard is receipt, not postmark. Medicare.gov: "the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7." An online enrollment through Medicare.gov's plan finder or the plan's site is time-stamped; a paper form mailed on December 5 may not be. If your current plan is being discontinued for 2027, a separate Special Enrollment Period runs past that date, but for everyone else December 7 is the wall until the January 1 – March 31, 2027 Medicare Advantage window, which is narrower.
Do I have to do anything during Medicare open enrollment if I'm happy with my plan?
No. If you do nothing, your current plan renews on January 1, 2027 with whatever its Annual Notice of Change says has changed. That is the catch: "happy with my plan" means happy with its 2026 terms, and the letter that arrived by September 30 describes its 2027 terms. Read the premium, deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, the drug tiers for your prescriptions and the network for your doctors. If those five are unchanged or acceptable, doing nothing is a fine decision. If not, Open Enrollment is the once-a-year chance to act on it.
Can I change my Medicare plan after December 7?
In limited ways. Between January 1 – March 31, 2027, someone already in a Medicare Advantage plan can make one switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare with a drug plan, effective the first of the following month. Someone on Original Medicare with a stand-alone drug plan cannot use that window. Special Enrollment Periods exist for moves, loss of other coverage, Medicaid or Extra Help changes, and a plan that is discontinued. Outside those, the next Open Enrollment is October 15, 2027.
Is Medicare open enrollment the same as Obamacare open enrollment in Utah?
No. Medicare Open Enrollment is October 15, 2026 to December 7, 2026 and covers Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. The Marketplace window, per the Utah Insurance Department, starts November 1, needs a December 15 enrollment for a January 1 start, and closes January 15. The department says plainly that the ACA window "is different from Medicare Open Enrollment and Medicaid." A Utah couple where one spouse is 66 and the other is 62 works both calendars in the same autumn, with different deadlines and different websites.
Who can help me compare Medicare plans in Utah for free?
Two kinds of people, and Medicare.gov's joining-a-plan page names both. Utah's State Health Insurance Assistance Program, the Senior Health Insurance Information Program, gives free counseling statewide at 1-800-541-7735; Medicare.gov notes that "SHIPs aren't connected to any insurance company or health plan." A licensed independent agent, Medicare.gov adds, is someone to "talk to" while you "check the rules they have to follow." An agent can enroll you and follow the plan through the year; SHIP does not sell or represent plans. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and we say so. Medicare.gov's plan finder and 1-800-MEDICARE show all of them.
Sources
- Medicare.gov — Open Enrollment (October 15 – December 7) — "October 15 – December 7," "effective January 1," "the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7."
- Medicare.gov — Joining a plan (enrollment periods) — what you can change, the January 1 – March 31, 2027 Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, SHIP and agent guidance.
- CMS — Medicare Open Enrollment partner resources — "Every year, Medicare's open enrollment period is October 15 - December 7."
- 42 CFR § 422.111 — Disclosure requirements (Annual Notice of Change timing) — "at least 15 days before the beginning of the Annual Coordinated Election Period."
- 42 CFR § 422.2263 — General marketing requirements (October 1) — "may begin marketing prospective plan year offerings on October 1."
- Medicare.gov — Plan Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) — "When should I get it? September."
- Medicare.gov — When does Medicare coverage start? (General Enrollment Period) — January 1 – March 31 for Part B sign-up, with a possible penalty.
- Medicare.gov — Medigap basics (one-time Medigap Open Enrollment Period) — "a one-time enrollment. It doesn't repeat every year."
- Utah Insurance Department — Health Insurance Open Enrollment (ACA Marketplace dates) — November 1, December 15, January 15; "different from Medicare Open Enrollment."
- Utah Code §31A-22-620 — Medicare Supplement Insurance Minimum Standards Act — the 60-day Medigap birthday window.
- SHIP National Technical Assistance Center — Utah Senior Health Insurance Information Program — 1-800-541-7735.
- Federal Register — Medicare Program; Contract Year 2027 Policy and Technical Changes (91 FR 17384, April 6, 2026) — CY2027 marketing rules effective October 1, 2026.
- CMS CY2026 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape — Utah's 280 MA-PD offerings across 28 counties for 2026.
- CDC PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County 2023 — Grand County high blood pressure and diabetes prevalence.
