Washington’s Health Care Authority has set the 2027 monthly premium for the UnitedHealthcare PEBB Balance plan at $279.61 for a retiree on Medicare who covers only themselves. The rate takes effect January 1, 2027, and the agency’s annual open enrollment for public retirees runs October 26 through November 23, 2026.
What the 2027 premium sheet lists
The figures come from the Health Care Authority’s 2027 retiree monthly premium sheet for the Public Employees Benefits Board program, known as PEBB. For subscriber-only coverage with one Medicare-eligible member, the sheet lists UnitedHealthcare PEBB Balance at $279.61 a month and UnitedHealthcare PEBB Complete at $342.87 a month. Both are marked “Effective January 1, 2027.”
The sheet carries a warning that matters for budgeting. Its Medicare plan premiums, it says, “do not include your Medicare Part B premium.” A retiree on one of these plans pays the Part B premium to Medicare on top of the state’s monthly charge, so $279.61 is not the full monthly cost of being covered.
Balance, Complete and the Medigap option
The gap between the two UnitedHealthcare plans is $63.26 a month, the difference between $342.87 and $279.61. Over a year, the Balance premium adds up to $3,355.32 before Part B.
The sheet also lists a Medicare Supplement option from Premera. Plan G for a subscriber age 65 or older is $143.42 a month, and the same plan for a subscriber under 65 who is Medicare-eligible because of disability is $289.17. A lower monthly figure on the sheet does not by itself show a lower yearly cost once doctor visits and prescriptions are counted.
That puts one question in front of Washington public retirees: which plan costs the least for the drugs and doctors a household actually uses, and what needs to be decided before November 23? The monthly premium is only one piece. A retiree who stays in a plan by default accepts the 2027 rate on the sheet, while one who switches has to make the change inside the enrollment window.
With the window closing November 23, a $63.26 monthly difference between Balance and Complete is only half of the comparison, since drug and doctor costs sit outside the premium sheet. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors.
Compare Balance and Complete in the Decision Kit’s cost calculator →
The enrollment window
The Health Care Authority’s announcement on changes to PEBB retiree benefits for 2027 says: “Annual open enrollment is October 26 through November 23, 2026.” The same announcement says the Public Employees Benefits Board “has authorized the following changes effective January 1, 2027,” without listing them on that page, and that the program “will provide more information about these and other changes in October before annual open enrollment.” The agency also warns that the information on the page “may change.”
The details of those board-approved changes are therefore the piece retirees are still waiting on. Plan-level changes such as benefit design or network are not covered by the premium sheet, which lists only prices.
Retirees not yet on Medicare
Retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare face higher figures. The sheet lists the Uniform Medical Plan Classic for a non-Medicare subscriber at $995.52 a month.
Paying the premium from a pension
The Health Care Authority’s retiree open enrollment page gives two pieces of guidance. For retirees who pay premiums by pension deduction: “make sure your pension will cover your 2027 premiums.” And for people in Medicare plans: “Review premium increases for PEBB Medicare plans.”
The pension check is the practical test. A retiree whose premium is deducted from a monthly pension has to confirm that the pension still covers the 2027 charge once the new rate starts in January. At $279.61 for Balance or $342.87 for Complete, plus the Part B premium paid separately, the combined health cost comes out of a fixed monthly income.
Comparing the retiree plans before November 23
The free place to start is the Health Care Authority’s employee and retiree benefits section, where the PEBB program posts premium sheets and open enrollment information. The premium sheet is the source for every rate in this story, and the agency has said more details on the 2027 changes would follow in October.
A fair comparison lists each plan side by side: the monthly premium from the sheet, the Part B premium paid to Medicare, and the retiree’s own prescriptions and doctors checked against each plan’s drug list and network. A retiree who writes those numbers down before the window opens has something concrete to weigh against the state’s deadline.
The deadline itself is set by the Health Care Authority: open enrollment closes November 23, 2026, and the rates on its 2027 retiree premium sheet take effect January 1.
$279.61 a month, and a November 23 deadline
A retiree who lets the Balance rate roll over without comparing the plans can miss a cheaper fit for the drugs and doctors on the list, and the window closes November 23. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes the Open Enrollment calendar and a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors.
Line up the Washington retiree plans with the Decision Kit’s Open Enrollment calendar →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
