Free Medicare Education Sessions in Brighton, CO

What each session covers

Each session works through six topics, with time for questions at the end. The figures below are the ones that apply this fall.

1. How Original Medicare works

Part A (hospital) and Part B (doctors and outpatient care): what each pays, and what it leaves. In 2026 most people pay a $202.90 monthly Part B premium and a $283 yearly Part B deductible, then generally 20% of the approved amount with no yearly limit (CMS). That open-ended 20% is the gap every other choice is built around.

2. Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement, side by side

How the two paths are built rather than which plan to pick: networks and referrals, the in-network maximum out-of-pocket on Advantage plans, and why a Medigap plan follows Original Medicare anywhere in the country. You will see why the first choice at 65 matters: your six-month Medigap open enrollment is the one window when an insurer cannot ask health questions, and Plans C and F are closed to anyone new to Medicare since January 1, 2020 (CMS, Choosing a Medigap Policy).

3. Prescription drug coverage for 2027

How Part D works on its own or inside an Advantage plan, and what changes for 2027: the yearly out-of-pocket cap for covered drugs rises from $2,100 in 2026 to $2,400 (CMS CY2027 Rate Announcement). We also cover how drug costs are counted separately from medical costs, and why checking your own drug list each fall matters.

4. Enrollment windows and penalties

Your seven-month Initial Enrollment Period around your 65th birthday, the 8-month window after job-based coverage ends, and the fall Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 to December 7, 2026, for 2027 plans). Missing a window can cost you for life: the Part B penalty adds 10% for each full 12 months without coverage, and the Part D penalty adds 1% of the national base premium ($38.99 in 2026) for each month without creditable drug coverage (CMS).

5. Help with costs

Extra Help with drug costs, the Medicare Savings Programs that can pay the Part B premium, and how Health First Colorado works alongside Medicare. You will leave knowing whether it is worth applying and where to apply.

6. Questions to ask before you choose

A short checklist to take home: are my doctors in network, are my drugs on the formulary and at which tier, what is my worst-case year, and what happens if I travel. Then open questions, as many as there is time for.

How to book a session

1. Call (303) 887-8584 (Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM) or send a message through the contact page, and say whether you prefer in person in Brighton or online.
2. Lisa confirms the next date, time and place, or the online link, for the format you chose. Dates change through the year, with more sessions in the fall.
3. Bring your questions. If you are close to enrolling, a list of your doctors and prescriptions helps you get more from the Q&A.
4. Want help with your own plans afterward? That is a separate one-on-one review, booked on its own, never part of the session.

Prefer to skip the group setting? A one-on-one Medicare review with Lisa covers the same ground for your own doctors and prescriptions, at the Brighton office (992 South Fourth Avenue), by phone or by video.

Why the sessions stay educational: the Medicare rules

Medicare sets firm rules for how agents may talk about plans, and they are a big part of why a session is a safe place to learn. Here is how they apply, checked against the federal regulation and CMS guidance on October 14, 2026.

• Educational means educational. Under Medicare marketing rules an educational event must be advertised as educational and generally inform people about Medicare. Agents may not market specific Medicare Advantage plans or benefits at it, and may not hand out or accept plan applications (42 CFR 422.2264). At a session you can ask questions, take materials and leave your contact details if you want to.
• Plan-specific help is a separate appointment. Before any one-on-one meeting where Medicare Advantage or Part D plans will be discussed, you complete a Scope of Appointment form that lists which products you want to talk about. Nothing outside that list is discussed unless you ask (42 CFR 422.2264).
• What changed this fall. Until now that form had to be signed at least 48 hours before the appointment. For 2027 marketing, which began October 1, 2026, CMS removed the 48-hour wait and allows Scope of Appointment forms to be collected at educational events (CMS summary of final rule CMS-4212-F). The safeguard that remains is the one that matters: you choose what is discussed, in writing, before a sales conversation starts.
• A one-on-one review is free. If you want help with your own situation after a session, Lisa reviews your options at no cost and with no obligation at (303) 887-8584, checking your doctors and prescriptions against the 2027 plans.