House bill would create one-year Part D premium credit for 2027

A House bill would create a one-year credit on 2027 Medicare Part D premiums for people enrolled in stand-alone drug plans, replacing part of the relief a temporary federal program has provided over the past two years ^[1].

Representative Gus Bilirakis of Florida introduced H.R. 10185, which would require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish the 2027 credit ^[1]. The amount would equal the average premium reduction delivered by the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, calculated from 2025 and 2026 data ^[1]. Under the bill, plans would subtract the credit from what enrollees owe, and HHS would reimburse the plan ^[1].

The credit would not apply to drug coverage offered inside a Medicare Advantage plan ^[1]. That distinction matters for scale: CMS projected about 34 million Medicare Advantage enrollees for 2026, roughly 48 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries ^[2].

The bill arrives as the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, a temporary CMS program that held stand-alone drug plan premiums down in 2025 and 2026, is set to end at the end of calendar year 2026, returning the market to standard pricing in 2027 ^[2]. The Part D base beneficiary premium is climbing about 6 percent for 2027, to $41.33 from $38.99 in 2026, and the national average monthly bid amount rose to $296.05 for 2027 ^[2].

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz has said premiums are expected to rise "by less than $10 for most Medicare recipients, with many even seeing lower premiums" once plans finalize their bids, according to a MedicareGuide.com review of 2027 costs; that has not been confirmed with final 2027 plan-level premiums ^[2].

Several key details are not yet known. The bill as described does not set a dollar amount for the credit, and the average premium reduction the demonstration delivered in 2025 and 2026 has not been disclosed in the figures published so far ^[1]. CMS had not yet published the enrollment-weighted average stand-alone Part D premium for 2027 as of September 2026 ^[2]. The cost of the credit, how it would be paid for, whether HHS supports the approach, and how the average reduction would be calculated have not been reported ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Medicare Part D premiums are paid monthly, so any credit applied across 2027 would change what stand-alone drug plan enrollees owe over the year rather than in a single payment ^[1]. The bill is written to reach only people in stand-alone Part D plans, not those whose drug coverage comes through a Medicare Advantage plan, so the two groups would face different 2027 costs if it becomes law ^[1].

Premium amounts for 2027 are still incomplete. CMS had not published its 2027 average stand-alone Part D premium, its 2027 average Medicare Advantage premium, or the 2027 Part B premium and deductible as of the fall 2026 update of the consumer cost guide ^[2]. For reference, the 2026 Part B premium is $202.90 per month with a $283 deductible, up from $185.00 and $257 in 2025, and the 2026 average Medicare Advantage premium is $14.00 per month, down from $16.40 in 2025 ^[2].

Because the bill has not advanced beyond introduction, no credit is in place ^[1].

What happens next

• CMS is expected to release 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D figures in its fall "landscape" announcement, typically in September ^[2].
• The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs from October 15 to December 7, 2026 ^[2].
• The 2027 Part B premium and deductible are typically announced in mid-November ^[2].
• The Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration ends December 31, 2026 ^[2].
• H.R. 10185 has not moved past introduction ^[1].