Medicare Advantage

How 16 carriers and 88 plans line up in Maricopa County

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.

Medicare AdvantageGlendale, AZ

GLENDALE, Ariz. — If you are shopping for a 2027 Medicare Advantage plan in Glendale, the first thing worth knowing is not a price or a benefit — it is the shape of your choices. Sixteen insurance carriers are selling Medicare Advantage plans here, and they come in a few different flavors: HMO, HMO-POS, PPO, and Special Needs Plans built for people with specific health or financial situations. Knowing how those pieces fit together makes the rest of the decision a lot easier.

Who sells Medicare Advantage in Glendale

Glendale is in Maricopa County, where Medicare plan availability is set at the county level. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for plan year 2027, the following 16 carriers offer plans in the county (alphabetical):

• Aetna (CVS Health): 9 plans
• Alignment Health Plan: 5 plans
• Banner Medicare Advantage: 3 plans
• Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC): 6 plans
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona: 3 plans
• Centene (WellCare): 6 plans
• Devoted Health: 10 plans
• Elevance Health (Anthem): 5 plans
• eternalHealth: 4 plans
• Gold Kidney Health Plan: 3 plans
• Humana: 14 plans
• Mercy Care Advantage: 3 plans
• Molina Healthcare of Arizona: 1 plan
• SCAN Health Plan: 6 plans
• UnitedHealthcare: 8 plans
• Verda Health Plan of Arizona: 2 plans

The table below on this page lists every plan by carrier. That count of plans is not a ranking — a carrier with more plans is not "better," just offering more variations for different needs.

HMO, HMO-POS and PPO: the everyday plan types

Most Medicare Advantage plans in the county are HMOs (55 of the 88). An HMO — Health Maintenance Organization — usually asks you to use doctors and hospitals inside its network and to pick a primary care doctor. Referrals are often required to see specialists. If you like keeping most of your care in one connected system, an HMO can feel simple.

HMO-POS plans (16 in the county) are HMOs with a "point-of-service" option. That means you can go outside the network for certain services, usually at a higher cost. It is a middle ground between an HMO and a PPO.

PPO plans (17 in the county) — Preferred Provider Organizations — let you see out-of-network providers who accept the plan, generally at a higher cost-share. Referrals are usually not required. If you travel, split time between homes, or have specialists in different places, a PPO's flexibility may matter to you.

You may also hear about PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service) plans. These are a fourth Medicare Advantage type where the plan, not a network, sets what it pays providers, and any provider who agrees to the plan's terms can treat you visit by visit. PFFS plans are not a large part of the Glendale market for 2027, so most local shoppers will be choosing among HMO, HMO-POS and PPO options.

Special Needs Plans (SNPs): built for specific situations

Of the 88 Medicare Advantage plans in Maricopa County, 36 are Special Needs Plans. SNPs are only open to people who fit a specific category, and their benefits and drug lists are tailored to that group. There are three kinds:

• D-SNP (Dual Eligible): for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid.
• C-SNP (Chronic Condition): for people living with a qualifying chronic condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, or end-stage renal disease.
• I-SNP (Institutional): for people who live in a nursing home or need a similar level of care at home.

You will see SNPs across many of the carriers in the table — for example, Banner Medicare Advantage, Mercy Care Advantage, Molina Healthcare of Arizona and UnitedHealthcare each offer D-SNPs, while several carriers list C-SNPs and a couple offer I-SNPs. If you do not qualify for a SNP's category, you cannot enroll in that plan, so it is worth checking eligibility first.

Drug coverage and the 2027 Part D rules

Every one of the 79 Medicare Advantage plans in Maricopa County for 2027 includes prescription drug coverage (an "MA-PD" plan). There are no stand-alone Part D plans listed alongside Medicare Advantage here, so for most Glendale enrollees, drug coverage comes bundled with the medical plan.

A few Part D rules apply across the board in 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100. Once you hit it, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The maximum Part D deductible any plan can charge is $615.
• The old "donut hole" is gone. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• You can opt in to the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads your drug costs into level monthly payments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.

Dates to keep in mind

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7, 2026. This is when you can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 – March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.
• IRMAA: In 2026, income-related surcharges on Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 for a single filer.