Medicare 2026

How Atlantic City Residents Get One-on-One Medicare Guidance

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — If Medicare feels confusing, you are not alone. With 57 Medicare Advantage plans available in Atlantic County and 11 carriers offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage, sorting through the choices can feel like a full-time job. The good news: you can get honest, one-on-one help right here in South Jersey — without paying a dime and without a sales pitch.

Free, one-on-one help is closer than you think

Here is where local folks turn when they want a clear answer.

Start with SHIP — New Jersey's free counseling program

Every state has a State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP. In New Jersey, it is called SHIP-NJ, and its counselors are trained volunteers who do not sell insurance and do not earn commissions. That means the advice you get is not steered toward any one plan or carrier.

SHIP counselors can help you:

• Understand the difference between Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and Part D.
• Compare plans available in Atlantic County using Medicare's own Plan Finder.
• Check whether you qualify for programs that lower costs, like Extra Help or a Medicare Savings Program.
• Sort out billing problems, denials, or appeals.

To reach SHIP-NJ, call 1-800-792-8820. You can also find local counseling sites through the Atlantic County Division of Intergenerational Services, which hosts Medicare counseling sessions for residents 60 and older.

When a licensed agent makes sense

SHIP is a great starting point, but some people want an agent who can actually enroll them in a plan. Licensed insurance agents and brokers can do that. Here is what to know before you sit down with one:

• Ask which carriers they represent. Some agents are "captive" and only sell one company's plans. Independent brokers often represent several carriers, which gives you a wider view.
• They are paid by the insurance company, not by you. That is legal and standard, but it is worth knowing.
• Get everything in writing. If a benefit matters to you — a specific doctor, a specific drug, dental coverage — ask the agent to show you where it appears in the plan documents.
• You can walk away. No agent should pressure you to sign the same day.

Atlantic County has 54,842 residents age 65 and older, so there is no shortage of local agents. Ask neighbors, your doctor's office, or your pharmacist for names.

Use medicare.gov as your reality check

Whether you talk to SHIP or an agent, run the plans through medicare.gov/plan-compare yourself. Type in your ZIP code and your prescriptions, and the tool will show every plan available to you, side by side. It is the same tool the counselors use.

You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for questions straight from the source.

A few numbers worth knowing for 2026 and 2027

Whoever you talk to, these program-level facts apply to everyone on Medicare:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit it, you pay nothing more for covered drugs that year.
• Part D deductible: No plan can charge more than $615 in 2026 or $700 in 2027.
• The "donut hole" is gone. Since 2025, Part D has three simpler phases.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: You can ask to spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments, instead of paying big bills at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Watch the calendar

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7. This is when most people can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31. If you are already in an Advantage plan, you get one more chance to change it.