Medicare Advantage

Sizing up Medicare in Montgomery: how many 2027 choices you actually have

Montgomery County has 73 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 4 plans are not coming back, 15 are new, and 23 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 6 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Montgomery, not which plan to pick.

Medicare AdvantageMontgomery, AL

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — If you're turning 65 soon or already have Medicare, one of the first questions you probably have is a simple one: how many choices do I actually have around here? For 2027, the answer in the River Region is "quite a few" — and knowing the shape of the local market makes it easier to sort through what's in front of you.

Montgomery is in Montgomery County, where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) counts 67 Medicare Advantage plans available for 2027, offered by 8 different carriers. Of the 2026 lineup, 52 plans continue, 15 are new, 4 are not returning, and 6 have been renamed; 17 continuing plans change something in their terms (the ANOC has the details). That's a lot of options to sift through, and it's why national tools like Medicare Plan Finder and local help from a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor exist.

This article is a snapshot — the counts, the calendar, and where to go for real answers. It doesn't rank plans, and it can't tell you which one fits your prescriptions or your doctors. That part is personal.

What the local numbers actually mean

A count of 62 Medicare Advantage plans doesn't mean 62 wildly different products. Many carriers offer several versions of a plan — different networks, different drug lists, or different add-ons — so the same insurer can show up multiple times in the tally.

The other number worth sitting with is 8. That's how many carriers offer Medicare Advantage with drug coverage (MA-PD) in Montgomery County for 2027. It's a useful gut-check when someone tells you there are "no choices" or, on the flip side, that you have to decide today. Neither is true.

Where Part D fits in

CMS's 2027 landscape data for Montgomery County lists 0 stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans in the block we work from. Stand-alone Part D plans (PDPs) are the drug-only plans people on Original Medicare typically pair with their Part A and Part B coverage.

If you're on Original Medicare and need drug coverage, don't panic at that zero — check Medicare.gov's Plan Finder with your ZIP code. It pulls the current, official list at the moment you search. The bigger picture is that in much of Alabama, drug coverage most often comes bundled inside a Medicare Advantage plan.

The 2027 Part D rules everyone should know

Even if you're not changing plans, the drug-coverage rules are changing in ways worth understanding:

• The out-of-pocket cap for Part D covered drugs is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the calendar year.
• The maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap was eliminated in 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly amounts instead of paying big bills at the pharmacy counter. It's optional, and you have to opt in.

Higher-income beneficiaries may also pay an IRMAA surcharge on Part B and Part D. For 2026, those surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer.

What Star Ratings are (and aren't)

CMS rates Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts on a 1-to-5 scale each year. In Montgomery County's data block, 0 contracts are rated 4 stars or higher for 2027.

Star Ratings can be one input when you compare plans, but they're not a scoreboard that tells you which plan is right for you. A plan's network, drug list (formulary), and total yearly cost for your specific medications usually matter more than the star number.

Mark these dates

Two windows drive almost every Medicare decision:

• Annual Enrollment Period (AEP): October 15 – December 7. This is when anyone on Medicare can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for the following year.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP): January 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance in this window to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.

If you're newly eligible, you also have your own Initial Enrollment Period around your 65th birthday.

Where to get personalized help

With 67 Medicare Advantage plans in the county for 2027, nobody should try to compare them all in a spreadsheet on their kitchen table. Use the tools built for this:

• Medicare.gov Plan Finder — enter your ZIP code and your prescriptions to see plans side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — available 24/7.
• Alabama SHIP — free, unbiased Medicare counseling from trained counselors. Reach the Alabama Department of Senior Services at 1-800-243-5463.