Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in Arkansas Medicare Advantage for 2027: 20 Plans Leaving, 20 Changing

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas's Medicare Advantage shelf is getting a trim and a refresh for the 2027 plan year. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Advantage Landscape files, Arkansans had 91 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from in 2026 and will have 84 in 2027. Behind that modest drop is a bigger reshuffle: 20 plans are leaving the state, 20 are changing in at least one county, 13 are new, and 51 are continuing unchanged. One carrier, Healthy Arkansas, Inc., is entering the Arkansas market for 2027.

Medicare AdvantageArkansas

Every one of Arkansas's 75 counties will see at least one plan leave or change. That means almost every current enrollee has a reason to read the mail that arrives this fall.

What the statewide numbers mean

CMS publishes two Landscape files each year — one for the current plan year and one for the coming plan year — and comparing them shows what's moving. Each plan is counted once statewide, no matter how many counties it serves.

For Arkansas, the comparison between CY2026 and CY2027 shows 91 Medicare Advantage plans available in 2026 and 84 in 2027. Twenty plans offered somewhere in Arkansas for 2026 are not offered anywhere in the state for 2027 — those are the "leaving" plans. Another 20 are offered in both years but differ on at least one of four items in the CMS file in at least one county: premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name. CMS flags those as "changing." Thirteen plans are new for 2027, and 51 continue unchanged.

CMS's definition of "changing" is narrow and specific. It does not describe how much something changed or whether a change is good or bad for any individual. It simply flags that the plan is not identical to its 2026 version on one of those four fields. The details that matter to you — your premium, your drug deductible, your plan type, your plan name — live in your Annual Notice of Change.

If your plan is leaving

If your 2026 plan is one of the 20 not being offered in Arkansas for 2027, you'll get a non-renewal notice from the carrier. You have two windows to act.

The first is the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, 2026. A choice made in that window takes effect January 1, 2027.

The second is a Special Enrollment Period for members of non-renewed plans. That SEP runs through the end of February 2027, so if January 1 arrives and you haven't picked a new plan, you still have time.

If you do nothing at all and your plan is leaving, you will not automatically land in another Medicare Advantage plan. You generally return to Original Medicare. That may or may not be what you want — the point is to make the choice on purpose rather than by default.

If your plan is changing

For the 20 plans flagged as changing, the single most important document is the Annual Notice of Change. Carriers send the ANOC in the fall. It lays out, in writing, what is different about your plan for 2027 compared with 2026 — including anything CMS captured in its Landscape file.

If you do nothing, you stay enrolled in your renewing plan with whatever the ANOC describes. That's a legitimate choice, but only if you've read the ANOC and you're comfortable with what it says. "I didn't open it" is not the same as "I checked and I'm fine."

The counties with the most change

Every Arkansas county sees at least one plan leave or change. These counties show the highest counts in the CY2026-to-CY2027 comparison:

• Saline County: 17 leaving, 18 changing
• Pulaski County: 16 leaving, 18 changing
• Lonoke County: 15 leaving, 17 changing
• Van Buren County: 21 leaving, 11 changing
• Cleburne County: 18 leaving, 13 changing
• Garland County: 16 leaving, 15 changing
• Hot Spring County: 16 leaving, 15 changing
• Montgomery County: 15 leaving, 16 changing

If you live in one of these counties, assume your mail this fall includes something you need to open.

What to do before December 7

A simple checklist for the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, 2026:

1. Watch for the ANOC and any non-renewal notice from your current carrier. They arrive in the fall. 2. Confirm whether your plan is on the leaving, changing, or continuing-unchanged list for your county. 3. If your plan is changing, read the ANOC end to end. 4. Check that your doctors, hospitals and pharmacies are still in network for 2027, and that your prescriptions are still covered the way you expect. 5. Compare your plan against the other options available in your county using Medicare's Plan Finder. 6. Make your choice by December 7, 2026 for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. If your plan is not renewing, remember you also have the SEP through the end of February 2027.

Where to get free help

You don't have to figure this out alone. Three free, unbiased sources:

• Medicare.gov — the official Plan Finder lets you enter your ZIP code and prescriptions and see every plan available where you live.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — available 24/7.
• State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — Arkansas's SHIP offers free one-on-one counseling with trained volunteers who do not sell insurance.