Medicare Advantage

Got a non-renewal letter? Here's your next step

Maricopa County has 79 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 13 plans are not coming back, 17 are new, and 20 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 13 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Gilbert, not which plan to pick.

GILBERT, Ariz. — If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in Gilbert, your mailbox is about to get busy. Every fall, insurers finalize which plans they will keep, drop, rename or reshape for the coming year, and the picture for 2027 is now set. In Maricopa County, which includes Gilbert, 13 Medicare Advantage plans will not return after 2026, 17 new plans are joining the lineup, and 13 more are being renamed. That means a meaningful share of local members will need to make a decision before enrollment closes.

Here is what the change data shows, and what to do if your plan is on the leaving list.

What is changing in Gilbert for 2027

Gilbert sits in Maricopa County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files comparing 2026 with 2027, the county's lineup is shifting in four ways:

• 13 plans are leaving after 2026.
• 17 plans are new for 2027.
• 13 plans are being renamed (same plan, different name on paper).
• 20 continuing plans are changing on premium, deductible, plan type or name — CMS flags a change; the specifics live in your ANOC.
• 62 plans are continuing without those flagged changes.

The full plan-by-plan table appears below on this page. The section that matters most for members is the leaving list.

Plans not returning after 2026

If you are enrolled in one of these plans, it will not be available in 2027 and you will need to choose a new plan or return to Original Medicare. The plans leaving Maricopa County are:

• Aetna Medicare Elite (PPO), Aetna Medicare Prime (HMO), Aetna Medicare Prime Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP), Aetna Medicare Prime Extra (HMO) and Aetna Medicare Signature Extra (HMO), all from Aetna (CVS Health)
• HealthSpring Preferred (HMO), from Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC)
• Wellcare Arizona Complete Health Dual Align (HMO D-SNP), Wellcare Dual Liberty Sync (HMO D-SNP), Wellcare Giveback (HMO) and Wellcare Simple Value (HMO), from Centene (WellCare)
• Wellpoint I CareMore Home Care (HMO I-SNP), from Elevance Health (Anthem)
• eternalHealth Grand Give Back (HMO), from eternalHealth
• SCAN Strive (HMO C-SNP), from SCAN Health Plan

A note on the Aetna list: one of the new plans for 2027 shares a name with a leaving plan (Aetna Medicare Prime (HMO)). Because the CMS contract identifiers are different, treat it as a new plan and read the details before assuming it's the same coverage.

New plans joining the lineup for 2027

Seventeen Medicare Advantage plans are new in Maricopa County for 2027, including entries from Aetna (CVS Health), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Gold Kidney Health Plan, Humana, SCAN Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare. Several of the new SCAN plans (SCAN DaVita Dialysis Care Complete, SCAN Walmart Medicare Advantage and SCAN Walmart Medicare Complete) point to new retail and clinical partnerships. You can see each new plan and its type in the table on this page.

Renamed plans — same plan, new name

Thirteen plans in the county are being renamed for 2027. A rename by itself doesn't necessarily change how the plan works, but it can be confusing when you see a different name on your card or paperwork. Renames include several Alignment Health plans, a HealthSpring plan, a Devoted Health plan, an eternalHealth plan (formerly eternalHealth + Fry's), two Humana Essentials Plus Giveback lines, Humana Total Complete (formerly Humana Gold Plus H4461-056), and UHC Dual Complete AZ-YL. The full before-and-after list is in the table below.

What a Gilbert member should do now

Even if your plan is continuing, take a few minutes this fall. Here is a simple checklist:

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Insurers mail it in late September. It tells you exactly what is changing about your plan for 2027 — premium, deductible, drug list, provider network, extra benefits. 2. Check your doctors and pharmacies against the 2027 network and formulary. 3. Compare plans at medicare.gov using the Plan Finder, or call 1-800-MEDICARE. 4. If your plan is leaving, don't wait. You have options through both the Annual Enrollment Period and a Special Enrollment Period.

The enrollment periods you can use

Two windows matter here:

• Annual Enrollment Period (AEP): Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. Anyone with Medicare can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. Coverage begins Jan. 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: Jan. 1 through March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan on Jan. 1, you can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare (with a Part D plan) once during this window.

If your plan is non-renewing — which applies to the 13 leaving plans above — you also qualify for a Special Enrollment Period that runs through the end of February. That gives you extra time to choose a new plan without a gap in coverage.

A few Medicare facts worth knowing

These are program-wide rules, not plan-specific, but they shape decisions in Gilbert too:

• Part D has a $2,100 out-of-pocket cap for covered drugs in 2026.
• The Part D deductible cannot be more than $615.
• The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") is gone; Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs over the year in monthly amounts.
• IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D start above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.