Medicare Advantage

Shopping Medicare Advantage in Tempe? Here are all 79 plans on the table

People in Tempe can choose from 79 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 88 for 2026. 13 of this year's plans are not returning, 17 are new to Maricopa County, and 20 that continue have changed something in their terms, with 13 of them under a new name.

Medicare AdvantageTempe, AZ

Tempe shoppers heading into Medicare's fall enrollment window have a long list to sort through. For plan year 2027, 79 Medicare Advantage plans from 16 carriers are being offered in Maricopa County, which is where Tempe sits. Every one of those plans includes prescription drug coverage. The full roster is in the table below — this article walks you through how to read it.

The plan names, plan types (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO) and drug-coverage status shown here come from the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for 2027. Costs, benefits, provider networks and star ratings are not included here on purpose — those are personal to each plan and should be checked on Medicare's Plan Finder or in the plan's own documents before you enroll.

What the Tempe lineup looks like at a glance

The county-level count is where most people start. In Maricopa County, the 2027 mix looks like this:

• 88 Medicare Advantage plans total
• 16 carriers offering MA-PD (Medicare Advantage with drug coverage)
• 55 HMO plans, 16 HMO-POS plans, and 17 PPO plans
• 36 Special Needs Plans (SNPs), which are limited to people who meet certain conditions
• 0 stand-alone Part D drug plans in the source data for this area (drug coverage is bundled into the Advantage plans)

Because every plan on the roster is an MA-PD, you do not need to add a separate Part D plan on top.

The carriers offering plans in Tempe

Sixteen carriers are on the 2027 roster for Maricopa County. In alphabetical order, they are: Aetna (CVS Health), Alignment Health Plan, Banner Medicare Advantage, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), eternalHealth, Gold Kidney Health Plan, Humana, Mercy Care Advantage, Molina Healthcare of Arizona, SCAN Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare, and Verda Health Plan of Arizona.

Some carriers offer a handful of plans; others offer more than a dozen. Humana lists 14 plans in the county, Devoted Health lists 10, and Aetna lists 9 — but a bigger menu does not mean a better fit. What matters is whether one of the plans matches your doctors, hospitals, medications and budget.

Understanding the plan types

The table below groups plans by carrier, but the plan-type label (in parentheses) tells you a lot about how the plan works.

• HMO — You generally pick a primary care doctor and stay inside the plan's network, except for emergencies.
• HMO-POS — An HMO with a "point of service" option to see some out-of-network providers, usually at a higher cost.
• PPO — More flexibility to see out-of-network providers, though in-network still costs less.
• C-SNP, D-SNP, I-SNP — Special Needs Plans. C-SNPs are for people with certain chronic conditions, D-SNPs are for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, and I-SNPs are for people living in nursing homes or needing a nursing-home level of care. You cannot enroll in a SNP unless you meet its eligibility rules.

Of the 88 plans in Maricopa County, 36 are Special Needs Plans. That means the "general" (non-SNP) menu is closer to 52 plans — still a lot, but a more realistic number for most shoppers.

Program-level facts to keep in mind for 2027

While plan details vary, some Medicare rules are the same for everyone in 2027:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100. Once you hit that in covered drug costs, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 (plans can charge less).
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone. Part D now has three phases, not four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: An optional program that lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the year in monthly payments, instead of paying a big bill at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA: Higher-income enrollees pay a Part B and Part D surcharge. For a single filer in 2026, it kicks in above $109,000 in income.
• Enrollment windows: Annual Enrollment runs Oct. 15 – Dec. 7. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs Jan. 1 – March 31 (for people already in an MA plan who want to switch once).

How to actually decide

A long list can feel paralyzing, so here is a practical order of operations:

1. List your must-haves — your doctors, your hospital, your prescriptions, and any specialists you see. 2. Filter by plan type — do you want the flexibility of a PPO, or is a tight-network HMO fine because you already like the local doctors? 3. Check whether you qualify for a SNP — if you have Medicaid, a qualifying chronic condition, or live in a nursing facility, a SNP may be worth a look. 4. Run each finalist through Plan Finder at medicare.gov to see the premium, deductible, drug cost estimate and star rating for your situation. 5. Confirm the network — call the plan or check its online directory to make sure your doctors are still in for 2027.

If you want a real person to walk through this with you at no cost, Arizona's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) offers free, unbiased counseling.