Newsroom · South Dakota

Medicare & You 2027 PDF: Free Download in English and Spanish

The free book Medicare mails every fall is out for 2027. Here is what's in it, what isn't, and where it falls short for South Dakota.

Big Sioux Benefits Data Desk

Published September 24, 2026 · 9 min read · Sourced from Medicare.gov and CMS.gov

This page is about one booklet: "Medicare & You," the official handbook the federal Medicare program sends to people with Medicare every fall. The 2027 edition came out this month. Below we explain what the handbook is, what changed in this year's edition, which 2027 numbers it has and which it doesn't, how it differs from the letter your own plan sends, and the parts of it that matter most if you live in South Dakota.

We downloaded and read the 2027 handbook itself on September 24, 2026. Page numbers below refer to that PDF, so you can check anything we say against your own copy.

What the Medicare & You handbook is

"Medicare & You" is a plain-language reference book written by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that runs Medicare. Medicare.gov describes it as "your official guide to Medicare" and says an updated printed copy is mailed to all Medicare households in late September. The 2027 edition covers Medicare benefits, costs, rights and protections, health and drug plans, and answers to common questions.

Two things are worth knowing up front. First, it is general: it explains how Medicare works for everyone, and it can't tell you what your specific plan charges. Second, it is not the law. The back cover says so directly: "Medicare & You" isn't a legal document, and official program rules are in the statutes, regulations, and rulings.

Source: Medicare.gov: Medicare & You (handbook landing page) & Medicare.gov: Medicare & You 2027 handbook, CMS Product No. 10050 (PDF, September 2026), contents page and back cover.

What's new in the 2027 edition

The handbook opens with a "What's new & important" page. These are the items it lists for 2027, in our words, with the handbook page where each one is explained:

The same page also flags Medicare's push against fraud, including AI tools to catch improper payments, and asks readers to check their Medicare Summary Notices for services they didn't get. It mentions third-party health apps listed at Medicare.gov/health-apps and virtual options in the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program. Inside the drug section, it notes that negotiated prices for 15 more Part D drugs take effect January 1, 2027.

Source: Medicare & You 2027, pp. 2 and 85.

The 2027 numbers it prints, and the ones it doesn't

This is the part people most often get wrong. The handbook is printed before CMS announces the next year's Part A and Part B amounts, so several dollar figures inside the 2027 edition are 2026 figures. The Part D limits are the exception: those are set earlier, and the handbook prints the 2027 values.

Source: Medicare & You 2027 (page numbers as printed); 2026 amounts cross-checked against Medicare.gov: Medicare costs (checked Sept. 24, 2026; still shows 2026 amounts).

One more cost note. A $2,400 cap means that once you, or programs like Extra Help on your behalf, have paid $2,400 toward covered Part D drugs in 2027, you pay nothing more for covered drugs that year. It does not mean every plan's premium or copays are low. A plan with a $0 monthly premium still has deductibles, copays, and a yearly out-of-pocket limit on medical care.

The dates it tells you to mark

Page 13 of the handbook has a "Mark your calendar" box. Here it is in full, for the 2027 plan year:

Source: Medicare & You 2027, p. 13.

The handbook vs. your plan's Annual Notice of Change

Two mailings arrive around the same time each fall, and they do different jobs. The handbook comes from Medicare and is the same for everyone. The Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) is a letter from your own Medicare Advantage or drug plan listing what changes in that plan next year: premiums, copays, the drug list, the provider network.

The 2027 handbook spells out the timing on page 67: your plan sends the ANOC, printed or electronic, by September 30, and a notice about your Evidence of Coverage (the plan's full rulebook) by October 15. If you don't get them, contact your plan. If you have Original Medicare with no Medicare Advantage or drug plan, there is no ANOC to wait for; the handbook is your main annual mailing.

In short: the handbook tells you how the rules work, and the ANOC tells you what your plan is changing. You need both to make a decision. We walk through reading the letter itself in our guide to the 2027 ANOC.

Source: Medicare & You 2027, p. 67.

Why the handbook matters in South Dakota

The handbook is written for the whole country, so it can't tell you about Sioux Falls, Pine Ridge, or Faith. A few of its sections carry extra weight here, though, and a few gaps are worth knowing about.

It reaches a lot of South Dakota households

Every Medicare household is on the mailing list. In South Dakota's largest counties alone, CMS counted these Medicare enrollees in 2026:

Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment by County (2026).

Rural distance: your options depend on your county

The handbook's plan chapters describe Medicare Advantage in general, but plan choices are set county by county. In South Dakota the spread is wide. For 2026, CMS plan data shows Brookings, Day, and Deuel counties with 14 Medicare Advantage plans each, while Edmunds and McPherson counties have 1 and Tripp County has 2. The 2027 plan list isn't in our data yet; the handbook says 2027 plans can be compared at Medicare.gov/plan-compare starting October 1, 2026.

Source: CMS Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape (PY2026).

Three items in the 2027 handbook matter more when the nearest specialist is a long drive away. The telehealth flexibilities now run through December 31, 2027 (p. 53). Rural Health Clinics, which provide primary and preventive care where providers are scarce, are covered under Part B; you generally pay 20% of the charges after the Part B deductible, and nothing for most preventive services (p. 52). And the new Rural Health Transformation Program is aimed at care close to home; the handbook suggests contacting your state health department to learn what it means locally.

Sanford and Avera: the handbook can't answer the network question

Much of eastern South Dakota's care runs through two systems. CMS's hospital ratings give Sanford USD Medical Center 5 stars and Avera McKennan 4 stars. Whether a given Medicare Advantage plan includes your doctors at either system is plan-specific, and the handbook doesn't list local networks. That answer is in your plan's ANOC and provider directory. Our Sanford vs. Avera network guide covers how to check.

Source: CMS Care Compare hospital overall star ratings.

Indian Health Service and tribal members

The handbook has a short section on the Indian Health Service (IHS), the federal health program for American Indians and Alaska Natives, on page 94. It says many Indian health facilities take part in Medicare drug coverage, and that if you get prescriptions through an Indian health facility you'll keep getting them at no cost and without interruption. It adds that joining a Medicare drug plan may help your Indian health facility, because the plan then pays the facility for your drugs, and it suggests talking to your local Indian health benefits coordinator.

On page 88 it lists IHS coverage as creditable prescription drug coverage, meaning coverage at least as good as Medicare's, which matters for avoiding the Part D late enrollment penalty. That protection is for drug coverage; our IHS and Medicare guide explains why it doesn't extend to Part B.

Source: Medicare & You 2027, pp. 88 and 94.

Local help with your 2027 choices

The handbook explains the program, but it can't tell you which plan fits your doctors, your drugs, and your budget in Sioux Falls. That's the conversation we have every fall. Talk it through with us, at no cost to you.

How to get a copy

You have more options than waiting for the mail. All of these are free:

• By mail. Medicare mails a printed copy to Medicare households in late September.
• Download the PDF. Download it free from this page in English (about 3.8 MB) or Spanish (about 5.4 MB). The same files are on Medicare.gov's Medicare & You page, and the Spanish PDF is "Medicare y Usted 2027".
• Large print. A large-print PDF is posted on the publications page.
• eBook and audio. The publications page offers an English ePub, an MP3 audio version, and a Spanish ePub, "Medicare y Usted 2027".
• By phone. Medicare mails printed copies on request through 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048), including Spanish.
• Braille and other formats. The handbook's Accessible Communications section (p. 124) explains how to request braille, large print, audio, and other formats.
• Go paperless. Switch to the electronic handbook at Medicare.gov/go-digital and you'll get an email link each fall instead of a paper copy.

One snag we noticed: on September 24, 2026, the publications page said the 2027 handbook "isn't available to order right now." The downloads were working. If you want a printed copy and the mailed one hasn't arrived, calling 1-800-MEDICARE is the reliable route.

Source: Medicare.gov: Medicare & You (handbook landing page), Medicare.gov: Publications (Medicare & You 2027 formats), and the handbook's back cover.

How to actually use it

Nobody reads it cover to cover, and you don't need to. Four pages do most of the work:

1. Page 2, "What's new." Read this every year. It's one page.
2. Page 13, the calendar box. The dates above, in one place.
3. The index (starting p. 4). Look up the service you care about, like "Hearing" or "Ambulance," and go straight to it.
4. Pages 119 to 122, definitions. Words printed in blue in the handbook are defined here. Terms like "coinsurance" (your percentage share of a bill) and "benefit period" (how Medicare counts a hospital stay) are easier once you've read the definition.

Then keep it by your plan's ANOC. The handbook explains the rules; your plan's letter shows what they mean for your costs next year.

How we know this: Every handbook fact on this page comes from the Medicare & You 2027 PDF (CMS Product No. 10050, September 2026) and the Medicare.gov handbook and publications pages, all read on September 24, 2026. South Dakota county plan counts and enrollment come from the CMS PY2026 landscape and CMS county enrollment data in our data file; the CY2027 plan landscape was not yet available when we checked. The 2027 Part B premium and deductible had not been announced as of that date, and we have not estimated them. This is education, not advice. Big Sioux Benefits is a licensed independent insurance agency, not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. Built with Strategic AI Architects.