Medicare Advantage

Before You Renew in Tucson: A 2027 Coverage Check

People in Tucson can choose from 88 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 82 this year. 14 of this year’s plans are gone, 20 are new to Pima County, and 32 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 12 of them under a new name.

TUCSON — Fall 2026. The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period is open now, and the window to lock in 2027 coverage closes December 7, 2026. Any change you make between October 15 and that date takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews — with whatever adjustments it has made for next year.

The point of this checklist is not to push you toward a switch. It is to walk you through the handful of documents and tools that tell you whether your plan still fits.

Start with the Annual Notice of Change

By late September, your current Medicare Advantage or Part D plan mailed you two documents: the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) and the Evidence of Coverage (EOC). The ANOC is the short one. It compares this year's plan to next year's, side by side.

Flip to the pages that show:

• The monthly premium for 2027.
• The deductible and the copays or coinsurance for doctor visits, specialists, hospital stays and the ER.
• The drug formulary — which tier your medicines land on, and whether any have moved.
• Extra benefits like dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter allowance or fitness.

If something important has changed, that is your cue to look further. If nothing meaningful has changed and your doctors and drugs are still covered, you may not need to do anything at all.

Check your doctors and hospitals for 2027

Networks shift every year. A clinic that was in-network in 2026 may not be in 2027, and vice versa.

For each doctor and hospital you use:

1. Pull up your plan's 2027 provider directory (your plan's website has it, or call the member services number on your card). 2. Confirm the provider is listed for the 2027 plan year — not just today. 3. If you see Banner, TMC, Northwest, Carondelet or any Tucson-area hospital you rely on, verify it by name.

A quick call to your doctor's billing office also works: ask which 2027 Medicare Advantage plans they will accept.

Check your prescriptions against the 2027 formulary

Drug lists change too. A medication can move to a higher tier, require prior authorization, or drop off the formulary entirely.

The fastest way to compare is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter your ZIP code and your prescriptions exactly as you take them (name, dose, quantity). The tool will show you how each plan sold in Pima County handles your drug list for 2027, including estimated yearly drug cost.

Two 2027 Part D figures are already confirmed by CMS and worth knowing:

• The 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 is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).

If your drug costs are high, you can also ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads your out-of-pocket drug costs across the calendar year in monthly bills rather than all at once at the pharmacy.

Know what you can choose from in Pima County

Tucson is in Pima County, where the 2026 CMS plan landscape lists 82 Medicare Advantage plans from 14 carriers: 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, SCAN Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan.

A few numbers to orient you:

• 42 HMO plans, 20 HMO-POS and 20 PPO.
• 32 of the 82 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs), designed for people who qualify by diagnosis, by nursing-home status, or by having both Medicare and Medicaid.
• All 82 include prescription drug coverage.

The 2027 plan lineup for Pima County will be posted on medicare.gov once CMS releases it for the enrollment window. The Plan Finder is the authoritative source.

What CMS has not announced yet

A few 2027 figures were not public at the time this was written:

• The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible. CMS typically announces these in November.
• The 2027 IRMAA income brackets (the surcharges higher-income beneficiaries pay on Part B and Part D). These come out with the Part B numbers.

For reference, in 2026 IRMAA surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer. Watch medicare.gov for the 2027 figures, or call 1-800-MEDICARE.

Your Tucson checklist, in one place

Before December 7, 2026:

• [ ] Read the ANOC your plan sent you.
• [ ] Confirm each doctor and hospital you use is in the 2027 network.
• [ ] Run your prescriptions through the Medicare Plan Finder for 2027.
• [ ] Compare at least one or two other plans available in Pima County.
• [ ] If you're happy with your plan as-is, you do not need to take any action.