Medicare Advantage

UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage in Alabama for 2027: 16 Plans, County by County

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — UnitedHealthcare will offer 16 Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama for the 2027 plan year, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files. That lineup includes a mix of HMO-POS and PPO plans, several Special Needs Plans, and a handful of plans that are new to the state. This explainer, from an independent Medicare education site that is not the government and not affiliated with any insurance carrier, walks through what the official filings show — and what Alabamians should check before the Annual Enrollment 2027 deadline on December 7, 2026.

What is UnitedHealthcare offering across Alabama for 2027?

UnitedHealthcare is offering 16 Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama for 2027, based on the CMS Landscape Source File. The breakdown is 13 HMO-POS plans and 3 PPO plans. Fourteen of the 16 include Part D prescription drug coverage, and two are offered without drug coverage.

Eight of the 16 are Special Needs Plans designed for specific groups: 5 Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, 2 Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs), and 1 Institutional Special Needs Plan (I-SNP) for people living in a long-term care setting. For context, CMS lists 7 other Medicare Advantage carriers operating in Alabama for 2027, with 113 Medicare Advantage plans statewide across all carriers combined.

Which UnitedHealthcare plans reach the most Alabama counties in 2027?

Most of UnitedHealthcare's 2027 Alabama plans are listed in 66 counties, which is the broadest county reach shown in the CMS file for the carrier. The full plan-by-plan county counts appear in the table on this page.

Plans listed in 66 Alabama counties include AARP Medicare Advantage Essentials from UHC AL-3 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage Extras from UHC AL-7 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC AL-0001 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC AL-0002 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC AL-6 (HMO-POS), both AARP Medicare Advantage Patriot No Rx plans, UHC Complete Care AL-5 and AL-8 (C-SNPs), and the UHC Dual Advantage and UHC Dual Complete D-SNPs. The AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC AL-0004 (PPO) is listed in 50 counties, and the UHC Nursing Home Plan EX-F001 (PPO I-SNP) is listed in 11 counties.

What is new or not returning from UnitedHealthcare in Alabama for 2027?

UnitedHealthcare has 4 plans new for 2027 in Alabama and 1 plan that is not returning from 2026, per the CMS Landscape files comparing the current and coming plan years.

The new 2027 plans are AARP Medicare Advantage Extras from UHC AL-7 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage Patriot No Rx AL-MA2 (HMO-POS), UHC Complete Care AL-8 (HMO-POS C-SNP), and UHC Dual Complete AL-Q3 (HMO-POS D-SNP). Several existing plans were renamed rather than replaced: for example, AARP Medicare Advantage Essentials from UHC AL-3 was previously called AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC AL-0003, and three D-SNPs were renumbered under the UHC Dual Advantage and UHC Dual Complete labels. A rename is not the same as a non-renewal, but if your 2026 plan's name is changing, read the Annual Notice of Change your plan mails you.

How do I check whether a UnitedHealthcare plan is offered in my Alabama county for 2027?

Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and enter your ZIP code. Medicare Advantage is sold county by county, so a plan listed statewide in the CMS file may not be available at your address.

Once you see the plans offered where you live, the Plan Finder and each plan's Evidence of Coverage and provider and pharmacy directories are the places to confirm three things: whether your doctors and hospitals are in network, whether your prescriptions are on the plan's formulary, and what the plan charges for the services you use. Those plan-specific details are not something this article — or the CMS Landscape file — can answer for you.

What should Alabama Medicare beneficiaries do before December 7, 2026?

Before December 7, 2026, review your current coverage and compare it with the plans available in your county for 2027. That is the last day of Annual Enrollment 2027, and the plan you pick takes effect January 1, 2027.

A practical checklist:

• Read the Annual Notice of Change from your current plan; it describes what is changing for 2027.
• Make a list of your doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions, including dosages.
• Run that list through the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov against each plan available at your ZIP code.
• If you take a Special Needs Plan route (D-SNP, C-SNP, or I-SNP), confirm you meet the eligibility rules for that plan type.
• Keep a copy of any confirmation number if you enroll.

Where can Alabamians get free help comparing 2027 Medicare plans?

Free, official help is available from Medicare directly. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or use the Medicare Plan Finder and plan comparison tools at medicare.gov.

Those two resources let you see every Medicare Advantage plan — UnitedHealthcare's and the 7 other carriers' — that is actually offered at your Alabama address for 2027, with the plan-specific costs, benefits, networks, drug lists, and star ratings that this article intentionally does not quote. If you want to read the plan documents directly, each carrier posts its Evidence of Coverage, Summary of Benefits, and provider and pharmacy directories on its own website.