Medicare Advantage

Aetna's 2027 Medicare Advantage plans in Phoenix: what's new, what's gone

PHOENIX — If you have an Aetna Medicare Advantage plan in the Phoenix area, your 2027 lineup looks different from the one you shopped last fall. For plan year 2027, Aetna is offering six Medicare Advantage plans in Maricopa County, with two new plans joining the lineup and five plans from 2026 not returning, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File.

Those changes land right in the middle of the Annual Enrollment Period, which runs October 15 through December 7, 2026. Any choice you make in that window takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing and your current plan is still offered, it renews automatically with whatever changes are spelled out in your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) — the booklet your plan mailed you in late September.

MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer news site. We are not Aetna, and we are not Medicare. Aetna is one of 16 carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans in Maricopa County for 2027; together, those carriers offer 92 plans.

How many Aetna Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Maricopa County for 2027?

Aetna is offering 6 Medicare Advantage plans in Maricopa County — the county Phoenix sits in — for 2027. By plan type, that breaks down to 3 HMO plans and 3 PPO plans. Five of the six include Part D prescription drug coverage, and one is a Special Needs Plan.

The table below lists every Aetna plan in the county for next year, in alphabetical order. All six come from the one carrier CMS lists as Aetna (CVS Health). We cannot share premiums, copays, deductibles, networks, drug lists or star ratings here — those are plan-specific details you should confirm on medicare.gov or in the plan's own Evidence of Coverage.

What Aetna plans are new or not returning in Phoenix for 2027?

Two Aetna plans are new in Maricopa County for 2027, and five Aetna plans from 2026 are not returning. CMS does not mark any of the carrier's local plans as renamed this year.

The new-for-2027 plans are Aetna Medicare Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP) and Aetna Medicare Prime (HMO). If you were enrolled in an Aetna plan that is not being offered again next year, Aetna will send you a non-renewal notice. You then have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a different plan — including returning to Original Medicare and adding a stand-alone Part D plan — without waiting for the next Annual Enrollment Period.

Returning plans this year include Aetna Medicare Eagle (PPO), Aetna Medicare Signature (HMO), Aetna Medicare Signature (PPO) and Aetna Medicare Value Care (PPO). Even for a returning plan, benefits and costs can shift year to year, so read the ANOC.

Does Aetna offer a Special Needs Plan in Phoenix for 2027?

Yes. Aetna is offering 1 Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan (C-SNP) in Maricopa County for 2027 — Aetna Medicare Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP), which is new for next year. The carrier is not offering a Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) or an Institutional Special Needs Plan (I-SNP) locally for 2027.

A C-SNP is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people living with certain qualifying chronic conditions. To join one, you have to meet the plan's medical eligibility rules. Medicare.gov and the plan itself can confirm which conditions qualify and what documentation is needed.

How do I check an Aetna plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plan Finder lets you type in your prescriptions and preferred pharmacy and see how each plan would treat them.

A simple before-December-7 checklist:

1. Pull out your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) and look at what's shifting on your current plan for 2027. 2. Make a list of your current doctors, specialists, hospitals and regular prescriptions (name, dose, how often). 3. On medicare.gov, enter your ZIP code and your drug list, then look at the plans you are considering side by side. 4. Call each doctor's office to confirm they are in-network for the specific plan next year — networks can change on January 1. 5. For drugs, confirm each one is on the plan's 2027 formulary and check the tier, any prior-authorization rules and your preferred pharmacy.

If you are happy with your current plan and it is being offered again in 2027, you don't have to do anything. It renews automatically.

What else is changing in Medicare for 2027?

Two program-wide Part D numbers are confirmed for 2027. The annual out-of-pocket cap on covered Part D drugs rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). The maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge rises to $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33 — that is a formula input CMS uses, not what any particular plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes those in the fall, usually in November. We will not guess at those numbers.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage and catastrophic. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available in 2027 as an option to spread your drug out-of-pocket costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying them at the pharmacy counter.

What are the key Medicare dates for Phoenix residents this fall?

The Annual Enrollment Period is October 15 through December 7, 2026, and a change made in that window starts January 1, 2027. If you end up on a Medicare Advantage plan in January and want to switch to a different Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 through March 31, 2027. You can use that period one time.