Retired Texas teachers who never joined TRS-Care, or who dropped it, can sign up for the system’s Medicare Advantage plan between Oct. 1, 2026 and March 31, 2028. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, or TRS, opened the limited-time window for retirees who did not enroll when they first could, and it also covers surviving spouses and dependents. The window runs for 18 months.
Who can come back in
The TRS enrollment page lists three groups. The first is retirees who were eligible for TRS-Care when they retired but did not enroll then. The second is people who ended their TRS-Care coverage at some point. The third is the surviving spouse or dependent of a deceased retiree who was eligible.
The page also says enrollees can add eligible dependents. TRS-Care Medicare Advantage is the health plan for Medicare-eligible retirees, according to the TRS retiree health page, so the window is aimed at people who already have Medicare. UnitedHealthcare administers the plan.
The dates
Enrollment opened Oct. 1, 2026 and runs until March 31, 2028. TRS has not published a deadline inside that stretch, and the page does not say when coverage begins for someone who signs up. That detail is worth getting from TRS before relying on a start date.
For a retiree who passed on TRS-Care years ago, or who dropped it for another plan, the long window removes the rush. It also means there is time to compare before choosing. Someone with employer or union retiree coverage, a Medigap policy or another Medicare Advantage plan has a decision to make about whether switching makes sense, and about which doctors and drugs each option covers.
The window stays open until March 31, 2028, so a retired teacher has months to price TRS-Care Medicare Advantage against whatever coverage is in place now. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, which puts the TRS-Care offer next to current coverage.
Run the TRS-Care comparison in the Decision Kit’s cost calculator →
What the plan includes
Drug coverage is part of the plan. TRS says it is included through TRS-Care Medicare Rx, and that no separate Part D plan is needed. For anyone who now pays a separate drug plan premium, that is one line on the bill that could change.
TRS also says premiums for the 2027 plan year were reduced. Its Medicare Advantage page says premiums were reduced for the 2027 TRS-Care Medicare Advantage plan year, and the September Fresh Picks retiree newsletter promises lower Medicare premiums for 2027. Neither page gives a dollar amount, so the size of the cut is not public in the pages TRS has posted. The premium itself is something to ask TRS for directly.
Surviving spouses and dependents
The surviving-spouse provision is the part of this window that is easiest to miss. A spouse or dependent of a deceased eligible retiree can use the same window, the enrollment page says. The page does not describe any extra paperwork, so the first call is to TRS to ask what proof of the relationship is needed.
How to sign up
The enrollment page lists the TRS-Care customer service line at 1-888-237-6762. The retiree health page gives the same number, with a TTY line at 711. TRS’s general line is 800-223-8778. TRS has not posted enrollment steps beyond the contact information on the pages it has published for this window.
Dental and vision are separate. They are optional coverage offered through MetLife, and the retiree health page says enrollment for coverage that starts Jan. 1, 2027 runs Oct. 1 to Dec. 7. That is a different window with a different end date, and it does not extend to March 2028.
Weighing TRS-Care against current coverage
The free first step is the TRS site at trs.texas.gov. Its enrollment page carries the window, the groups who qualify and the phone number. A call to the customer service line can settle the questions the pages leave open: the 2027 premium, the coverage start date, and which providers are in the plan’s network.
Before calling, it helps to gather what a comparison needs. That means the current plan’s monthly premium, a list of every prescription and its dose, the names of each doctor and hospital used, and any retiree coverage that would end if a person left it. Written side by side, those four items show whether TRS-Care Medicare Advantage costs less or covers more.
The deadline is far enough off that a rushed choice is not necessary, but a surviving spouse in particular may want to ask early. The TRS pages are the source for the window, and TRS is where any change to it would be announced.
Eighteen months to price one plan switch
A retired teacher who drops a working plan for the wrong reason, or never checks the TRS-Care premium before March 31, 2028, can end up paying more for the same doctors and drugs. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit puts a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors alongside the Open Enrollment calendar, so a switch comes with a written reason. It runs 55 pages.
Price TRS-Care Medicare Advantage against current coverage with the Decision Kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
