That’s when people can begin comparing 2027 Medicare health and drug coverage before Open Enrollment begins October 15. But pulling up the Medicare Plan Finder and finding plans in a client’s area is only the first step.

A plan that looks attractive at first may look very different once you enter the client’s prescriptions, check their pharmacy, verify their providers, and review the bigger cost picture.

That’s why every plan comparison should follow the same basic workflow:

Availability → Prescriptions → Pharmacy → Providers → Total Cost

Five checks. In that order. Here’s what to look for before you quote.

Start with one basic question:

Which 2027 plans are actually available to this client?

Medicare Advantage and Part D plan availability can vary based on where a beneficiary lives. Make sure you’re using the client’s current information and reviewing coverage available in the correct service area.

Don’t assume a plan you’ve worked with in another county is available to this client. And don’t assume a plan the client had in 2026 will be available or look the same in 2027. Once you know what’s actually available, you have a clean starting point for the rest of the comparison.

Then move to the client.

Don’t automatically reuse last year’s medication list. Ask the client what they’re taking now.

Confirm the exact prescriptions and the information needed for an accurate comparison, such as dosage, quantity, and frequency. Then review how the available plans cover those medications.

Don’t stop at:

“Is the drug covered?”

Look at how it’s covered.

Depending on the plan and medication, factors such as formulary placement, drug tiers, cost sharing, and applicable utilization requirements may affect what the client experiences. A plan with an attractive premium may become less attractive if an important prescription is covered differently. The more accurate the medication list, the more useful your comparison becomes.

CMS also announced that the 2027 national average monthly bid amount, or NAMBA, is $296.05.

The NAMBA is an enrollment-weighted average of applicable Part D plan bids for basic Part D benefits. CMS uses it when calculating government subsidies to plans. That’s useful background for agents who want to understand how the Part D market is priced.

But it is not the monthly premium beneficiaries should expect to pay. For most client conversations, the more important questions are what the client’s actual plan premium will be and how that plan covers the prescriptions they use.

Ask whether the client wants to keep using the same pharmacy. If they’re open to another location or an appropriate mail-order option, compare those choices too. This is an easy step to overlook because the drug itself hasn’t changed.

But the client’s pharmacy choice can affect the cost picture. Don’t assume. Check it.

Now move from prescriptions to healthcare access. Start with the client’s primary care provider. Then ask about specialists, hospitals, facilities, and other providers that matter to them.

A useful sequence is:

PCP → Specialists → Hospitals → Facilities

Verify current network information using appropriate plan resources. Don’t rely only on what your records said last year. Provider participation and networks can change. Also be careful about assuming that one provider’s participation tells you everything about a larger medical group, hospital, or facility.

If keeping a certain doctor or healthcare system is important to the client, make that part of the comparison from the beginning. A low premium or attractive benefit may mean much less to someone if the plan doesn’t fit how they receive their healthcare.

Finally, zoom out. Clients naturally notice monthly premiums because they’re easy to compare. But premium alone doesn’t tell the full story. Depending on the coverage you’re reviewing, the client’s cost picture may also involve deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, prescription costs, and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Think about how the client actually uses healthcare. Someone who takes several medications and regularly sees specialists may evaluate two plans very differently from someone who uses few prescriptions and rarely visits a doctor.

That’s why the final question shouldn’t simply be:

“Which plan has the lowest premium?”

It should be:

“What could this coverage look like based on how this client actually uses it?”

Use the available comparison tools and current plan information to help the client understand that bigger picture.

The order of these five checks matters. If you start by looking for the lowest premium, biggest extra benefit, or most familiar carrier, you may spend time reviewing a plan that doesn’t fit one of the client’s most important needs.

Instead, work through the same sequence every time:

1. Availability

What can this client actually choose from?

2. Prescriptions

How are the medications they take covered?

3. Pharmacy

How does their preferred pharmacy work with the plan?

4. Providers

Can they access the doctors, hospitals, and facilities that matter to them?

5. Total Cost

What does the overall estimated cost picture look like based on their needs? That gives you a repeatable Medicare plan comparison process instead of starting from scratch with every appointment.

Medicare Plan Finder can help organize a large amount of information. But the quality of the comparison still depends on the information you gather from the client. The tool doesn’t know which specialist the client refuses to give up. It doesn’t know that their prescriptions changed three months ago unless the current information is entered.

It doesn’t know whether they would switch pharmacies to reduce their prescription costs. And it doesn’t know which tradeoffs matter most to that individual. That’s where the agent comes in. Your value isn’t simply finding a list of available plans. It’s asking the questions that make the comparison relevant to the person sitting in front of you.

• Begin by confirming which 2027 plans are available in the client’s service area.
• Update the client’s prescription list instead of relying on last year’s information.
• Check the client’s preferred pharmacy and compare alternatives when appropriate.
• Verify primary care providers, specialists, hospitals, and important facilities.
• Look beyond monthly premiums to the client’s broader estimated cost picture.
• Follow the same five-step process for each plan comparison.
• Use Medicare Plan Finder to support the conversation, not replace the client-specific review.

A good Medicare plan comparison doesn’t begin with the plan you think will win. It begins with the client.

Before you quote, remember:

Availability → Prescriptions → Pharmacy → Providers → Total Cost

That simple workflow can help you make your plan reviews more consistent and keep the conversation focused on what matters to the individual client. Insurance Advisors Direct helps independent Medicare agents with quoting tools, carrier support, technology, training, compliance resources, and experienced people to turn to when questions arise.

With more than 30 years of experience, 30+ carriers, and 15+ product lines, IAD helps agents build stronger systems for serving their clients.

Visit iadbrokerage.com to learn more about the tools and support available to IAD agents.

We don’t just support agents. We partner with them.

Compliance Reminder: Medicare plan availability, costs, formularies, pharmacy networks, provider networks, benefits, and other plan information can change. Agents should use current, approved Medicare and plan information when discussing coverage and follow applicable CMS and carrier requirements. Plan discussions and recommendations should reflect each beneficiary’s individual circumstances and eligibility.