Medicare Advantage

Before you pick a brand-new Medicare Advantage plan in Glendale for 2027, do this

For 2027, Glendale is looking at 92 Medicare Advantage plans: 17 new, 13 gone since 2026, and 33 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 13 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Maricopa County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — When the Medicare Plan Finder refreshes for the Annual Enrollment Period that runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026, Glendale shoppers will see something they could not see a year ago: brand-new Medicare Advantage plans with no local track record yet. Glendale sits in Maricopa County, where federal data shows 17 Medicare Advantage plans are new for the 2027 plan year, offered by nine different carriers.

A new plan is not a bad plan or a good one — it is simply new. That means the usual signals shoppers lean on (Star Ratings history, a friend's experience, last year's drug list) do not exist for these options yet. Here is what is new, and how to check any of them against your own doctors and prescriptions before the Dec. 7 deadline.

What Medicare Advantage plans are new in Glendale for 2027?

For the 2027 plan year, 17 Medicare Advantage plans are new in Maricopa County, the county Glendale is in, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. They come from nine carriers: Aetna (CVS Health) with 2 new plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona with 1, Centene (WellCare) with 1, Devoted Health with 6, Elevance Health (Anthem) with 1, Gold Kidney Health Plan with 1, Humana with 1, SCAN Health Plan with 3, and UnitedHealthcare with 1.

Alphabetically by carrier, the new plans are:

• Aetna Medicare Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• Aetna Medicare Prime (HMO) — with drug coverage
• Blue Best Life Select (HMO) — with drug coverage
• Wellcare Arizona Complete Health Dual Liberty Sync (HMO D-SNP) — with drug coverage
• DEVOTED C-SNP ENHANCED 092 AZ (HMO C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• DEVOTED C-SNP GIVEBACK EXTRAS 104 AZ (HMO C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• DEVOTED C-SNP PLUS 093 AZ (HMO C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• DEVOTED CORE 090 AZ (HMO) — with drug coverage
• DEVOTED GIVEBACK 091 AZ (HMO) — with drug coverage
• DEVOTED GIVEBACK EXTRAS 105 AZ (HMO) — with drug coverage
• Wellpoint I CareMore Home Care (HMO I-SNP) — with drug coverage
• Gold Dialysis Premier (HMO-POS C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• Humana Value Choice (PPO) — with drug coverage
• SCAN DaVita Dialysis Care Complete (HMO-POS C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• SCAN Walmart Medicare Advantage (HMO) — with drug coverage
• SCAN Walmart Medicare Complete (HMO C-SNP) — with drug coverage
• AARP Medicare Advantage Patriot No Rx AZ-MA2 (HMO-POS) — without drug coverage

The table on this page lists every Medicare Advantage plan available in the county for 2027, with each new plan flagged.

Which of the new Glendale plans are Special Needs Plans, and which include drug coverage?

Most of the new plans in Maricopa County for 2027 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs), and all but one include Part D prescription drug coverage. A Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people who meet specific criteria: a chronic condition (C-SNP), eligibility for both Medicare and Medicaid (D-SNP), or living in or needing nursing-home-level care (I-SNP). You can only enroll in a SNP if you meet its rules.

Among the 17 new plans, the C-SNPs include Aetna Medicare Chronic Care, three Devoted C-SNP plans, Gold Dialysis Premier, SCAN DaVita Dialysis Care Complete and SCAN Walmart Medicare Complete. The D-SNP is Wellcare Arizona Complete Health Dual Liberty Sync. The I-SNP is Wellpoint I CareMore Home Care. The remaining new plans are standard HMO, HMO-POS or PPO plans open to anyone eligible for Medicare in the service area.

Sixteen of the 17 new plans include Part D drug coverage built in. The only exception is AARP Medicare Advantage Patriot No Rx AZ-MA2, which is a Medicare Advantage plan without drug coverage — the kind of plan some veterans or people with other prescription coverage choose. If you take any regular prescriptions, double-check this detail before enrolling.

How is a brand-new Medicare Advantage plan different from a renewing one?

A new plan has no Star Ratings yet. Medicare uses Star Ratings (1 to 5) to measure plan quality, but ratings are built from the prior year's performance data — complaints, customer service calls, clinical outcomes, drug safety and more. A plan in its first year has not generated that history, so it shows up on the Plan Finder without a rating. CMS treats this as a program fact, not a warning.

A renewing plan, by contrast, carries over its members, its contracts with doctors and hospitals, and its rating. Each fall, every renewing plan sends its enrollees an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) explaining what will be different in 2027 — premium, deductible, drug tiers, network, extras. If you are in a plan that is renewing, read the ANOC that arrived in September. It is the single most important document you will get this season.

For 2027 in Maricopa County, CMS data also shows 13 plans are not returning and 13 are being renamed. If your plan is one of them, you will have received a separate notice.

How do I check a new Glendale plan against my doctors and prescriptions before Dec. 7?

The fastest way is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Create or sign in to your account, enter your Glendale ZIP code, and add your prescriptions and your preferred pharmacy. The tool will show every Medicare Advantage plan available in Maricopa County for 2027, including the new ones, and will flag whether each of your drugs is on that plan's formulary and roughly what you would pay.

For doctors and hospitals, the Plan Finder's provider lookup is a starting point, but confirm with two steps: call your doctor's office and ask whether they will be in-network for the specific plan in 2027 (by plan name, not just the carrier), and then call the plan's member services line to confirm the same thing. Networks change, and a carrier may offer several plans with different networks.

If you prefer the phone, 1-800-MEDICARE is open 24/7 and can walk you through the comparison. Have your Medicare number, your prescription list with doses, and your pharmacy's name ready.

What else should Glendale shoppers know for the 2027 plan year?

A few program-level facts to anchor your comparison. For 2027, the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the IRMAA income brackets, had not been announced as of early fall 2026; CMS typically publishes them in November.

The Annual Enrollment Period runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026, for coverage that starts Jan. 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan renews (if it is still offered). If you want to switch, make the change by Dec. 7. There is also a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2027, during which someone already in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a different one or back to Original Medicare — once.