Medicare Advantage

Shopping for 2027 Medicare Advantage in Bakersfield? A plain-English checklist

For 2027, Bakersfield is looking at 42 Medicare Advantage plans: 11 new, 8 gone since 2026, and 14 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 4 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Kern County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The window to pick a 2027 Medicare Advantage plan is open now and closes December 7, 2026. In Kern County, where Bakersfield sits, the 2027 lineup looks a little different from this year's: a few plans are leaving, several new ones are joining, and every current plan is sending out an Annual Notice of Change describing what will shift on January 1.

If you do nothing, your current plan renews for 2027 as long as it is still offered — with whatever changes the ANOC spells out. If you want to switch, this guide walks you through how to compare the choices without getting lost.

What Bakersfield's 2027 lineup looks like

Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. Bakersfield is in Kern County, where CMS lists 42 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 carriers for 2027. By plan type, that breaks down to 33 HMOs, 8 HMO-POS plans and 1 PPO. All 42 include Part D prescription drug coverage.

Special Needs Plans (SNPs) remain a big part of the Kern County picture. For 2027, the county has 5 Dual-Eligible SNPs (D-SNPs, for people with both Medicare and Medi-Cal) and 16 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs, for people with specific long-term conditions like diabetes or chronic heart failure). There are no Institutional SNPs on offer.

The carriers serving Kern County in 2027, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health), Alignment Health Plan, Blue Shield of California, Centene (WellCare), Champion Heath Plan, Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Kern Family Health Care Medicare (D-SNP), and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan.

What's new for 2027

Three things to know as you read the roster:

• 11 new plans are being offered in Kern County for 2027.
• 8 plans that were offered in 2026 are not returning. If one of them is yours, you will get a non-renewal letter and should pick a replacement before December 7.
• 4 plans are being renamed. The underlying plan may be similar, but the benefits can still change — the ANOC is the source of truth.

Alignment Health Plan appears on the Kern County carrier list for 2027. On the program side, CMS has confirmed the 2027 Part D out-of-pocket cap will be $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026) and the Part D maximum deductible will be $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The 2027 Part B premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not been announced yet; CMS usually publishes those in the fall.

A step-by-step way to compare plans

The goal is not to find the "best" plan on paper — it is to find the plan that fits your doctors, your medicines and your budget. Work through these steps in order.

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Your current plan mailed this in September. It shows side-by-side what will change for 2027: premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, network and extra benefits. If you're happy with the changes, you can stop here.

2. List what you actually use. Write down your doctors and specialists, the hospital you prefer, every prescription (name, dose, how often), and the pharmacies you like. This is the shopping list you will test every plan against.

3. Go to the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter your ZIP code and your drug list. The tool will show every Medicare Advantage plan available in your part of Kern County and estimate your yearly drug costs at each pharmacy.

4. Check the network for your doctors and hospital. A plan can look great on price and still not include your primary care doctor. Confirm each provider in the plan's own online directory, or call the plan. For HMOs, you'll generally need to stay in-network except for emergencies; HMO-POS and PPO plans give you some out-of-network flexibility.

5. Check your pharmacy. The same drug can cost different amounts at different pharmacies within the same plan. Plan Finder lets you compare preferred vs. standard pharmacies side by side.

6. If you qualify, look at SNPs. If you have Medi-Cal, a D-SNP may coordinate both programs for you. If you have a qualifying chronic condition, a C-SNP is built around that condition's care.

7. Call before you commit. 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) is open 24/7 and can walk you through enrollment.

What happens if you do nothing

Nothing dramatic. If your 2026 plan is being offered again in 2027, you stay enrolled, and the ANOC changes take effect January 1. If your plan is one of the 8 not returning, CMS and the plan will notify you; you'll have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan, but it's easier to choose during AEP than to scramble in January.

You also get a second chance: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027, lets anyone already in a Medicare Advantage plan switch to a different MA plan or go back to Original Medicare once.