The Open Enrollment period is a blur of glossy brochures and television ads promising “free groceries” and “$0 premiums.” Now that the dust has settled and the 2026 plan year is underway, millions of retirees are discovering that the devil was in the details they didn’t read.
While the headline news was the $2,000 drug cap, insurers quietly adjusted other levers to maintain their profit margins. From shrinking “flex” allowances to aggressive new utilization management rules, the plan you thought you bought might look very different in practice. If you are noticing higher co-pays or denied services this winter, you likely missed one of these eight critical details during enrollment.
