Medicare Open Enrollment Runs October 15 to December 7: Free, Unbiased Help in Cabarrus County
Every fall, drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans change their costs and coverage. Medicare Open Enrollment, from October 15 to December 7, 2026, is the time to check whether your plan still fits, and free help is available right here in Concord.
What You Can Change
During Open Enrollment you can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan, add, drop or switch a Medicare drug plan, and move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Your plan must receive your request by December 7 for the change to start January 1, 2027. You can compare plans at medicare.gov/plan-compare.
Free, Unbiased Help: SHIIP
North Carolina's Seniors' Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP), part of the NC Department of Insurance, offers free counseling. Its counselors are not insurance agents and do not sell or endorse any plan. In Cabarrus County, one-on-one SHIIP help is offered through Cabarrus County Social Services, 1303 S. Cannon Blvd., Kannapolis. Call 704-920-1400 and choose option 7. The statewide SHIIP line is 1-855-408-1212, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Bring your Medicare card, your current plan's information and a list of your prescriptions with doses.
Help Paying for Drugs and Premiums
Extra Help lowers Part D premiums, deductibles and copays. For 2026, the limits are $23,940 in income and $18,090 in resources for one person, and $32,460 in income and $36,100 in resources for a married couple. People with full Medicaid, a Medicare Savings Program or SSI get Extra Help automatically. Others can apply at ssa.gov/medicare/part-d-extra-help or by calling 1-800-772-1213. The county SHIIP page notes that people who qualify can change drug plans at other times of year too. If groceries are stretching a fixed income too, see how our food delivery for seniors and veterans works.
Medicare Savings Programs, which North Carolina calls Medicare-Aid, can pay Part B premiums and sometimes more. Apply through Cabarrus County Human Services, online at epass.nc.gov, or by calling NC Medicaid at 1-888-245-0179. For checkups while you sort out coverage, Cabarrus Rowan Community Health Centers see patients regardless of insurance. Our guide to help paying Medicare costs in Cabarrus County walks through both programs and who to call.
A Word of Caution
Be wary of callers who say your Medicare is about to be canceled or who pressure you to switch today. Medicare will not call you to sell a plan. Report suspected Medicare fraud to SHIIP's Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-855-408-1212.
Need Food? We Deliver — Free of Charge
Solo Faith Church partners with DoorDash to deliver free groceries directly to families across Concord. No paperwork. No judgment. Just food delivered to your door. Request a free grocery delivery.
Community Support Note: This resource guide is part of Solo Faith Church's community directory. Facts come from Medicare.gov's open enrollment, drug-cost help and Medicare Savings Program pages, the NC Department of Insurance SHIIP pages, Cabarrus County's SHIIP page and Social Security's Extra Help page, read on September 27, 2026. Medicare Savings Program dollar limits are not listed here because state and federal pages showed different figures. This is general information, not insurance advice. The photograph is a stock image from the Wix free media library. Solo Faith Church has no financial relationship with any organization named here. Updated October 25, 2026: local SHIIP contact confirmed in Cabarrus County's November 2025 SHIIP news item, and the Human Services address on cabarruscounty.us.
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