Open enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, and you can switch plans or change drug coverage for 2027: You can move from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, switch between Medicare Advantage plans, or change your standalone Part D prescription plan by joining, dropping, or switching. Experts say comparing plans now can help you avoid surprise expenses next year.

Start with your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), which spells out 2027 changes: The ANOC summarizes changes to monthly premiums, deductibles, copays, out-of-pocket maximums, and pharmacy and provider networks. Check your plan’s drug formulary too, since a medication covered this year may not be covered in 2027, and make sure your specialists and preferred hospitals are still in network.

Look past the monthly premium when comparing plans: Add up deductibles, copays, and prescription costs to see your total yearly expense, and ask whether switching would help or hurt your cash flow. For free, personalized help, contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) at shiphelp.org, or get information from AARP and Medicare directly.

Organized gangs stole $470 million in SNAP benefits from recipients in 2025, affecting more than 990,000 households: Romanian criminal groups are copying magnetic-stripe EBT cards with skimmers on store card readers and gas pumps, then using them to buy resalable items like energy drinks and baby formula. The federal government has stopped tracking this crime, so the figures come from SNAP app provider Propel, and the victims are mostly working families and retirees who learn about it when their card is declined at checkout.

Most of this theft could be stopped by adding microchips to the cards, but Congress hasn’t funded it: Chip cards would cost an estimated $215 million, compared with more than $600 million in annual losses from theft of SNAP and other benefits. The federal government used to replace stolen SNAP funds, but that program ended after a 2024 spending deal collapsed, so victims can no longer get their benefits back. States that adopt chips on their own are seeing results: California reports theft down as much as 83%, and Alabama says it has had no confirmed cases since issuing chip cards this year.

Protect your benefits now by changing your EBT PIN regularly, locking your card when you aren’t using it, and checking your balance and transactions often: If you see charges you didn’t make, report them right away to your local SNAP office and police, since replacement isn’t guaranteed. Be cautious at card readers that look tampered with, and if a store feels suspicious, don’t swipe there. Your state’s chip card rollout may be coming, so watch for notices from your state’s SNAP office.

Consumer prices rose 3.7% over the past year in September, a larger increase than in August, with prices up 0.6% from August alone: Rising gasoline and diesel prices, tied to the U.S. war with Iran, drove most of the increase, and heating oil is climbing too. Higher AI-driven demand has also pushed up memory chip costs for consumer electronics.

The 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is 3.6%, adding about $75 a month for the average recipient: The COLA is based on price changes in July, August, and September, so this year’s inflation spike directly raised your benefit. The increase applies starting in January, but if you pay the Medicare Part B premium, that will be deducted from your check, so your net gain may be smaller.

Inflation may push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, so savers should watch their accounts: Investors now see about a 50-50 chance the Fed raises its benchmark rate at its October meeting to fight inflation. Higher rates can mean better yields on savings and CDs, but they also make borrowing more expensive, so review any credit card or variable-rate debt before the decision.