CMS quietly ended the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration in a technical fact sheet. The standalone PDP market shrank from 709 plans to 360. CY 2027 is the first year it runs without a cushion.
The 2027 base premium is 41.33 dollars. The average bid is 296.05 dollars. Beneficiaries are paying roughly 14 cents on the dollar of actual plan cost. The 6 percent IRA cap has been binding every single year.
Why? The IRA quadrupled plan liability in the catastrophic phase, from 15 percent to 60 percent for brands and biologics. For a pure pharmacy risk product with no medical benefit to offset against, that is close to an impossible operating instruction.
Several major carriers also cut broker commissions on standalone PDPs. Agents now have little incentive to sell them. Twenty-five million people, half the plan menu, tighter benefits, and fewer advisors to help navigate it.
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