Medicare Advantage

Before AEP Ends Dec 7: What Changed for Long Beach

For 2027, Long Beach is looking at 124 Medicare Advantage plans: 26 new, 23 gone since 2026, and 61 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 23 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Los Angeles County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Fall 2026. The slate of Medicare Advantage plans that neighbors in Long Beach will choose from for 2027 is set, and it looks different from this year's. Los Angeles County is adding 26 new plans, saying goodbye to 23, and losing one carrier entirely — Central Health Medicare Plan is not offering plans here next year. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

Long Beach is in Los Angeles County, where plan availability is set. The full roster — every plan from every carrier — appears in the table below. This article walks through what is new, what is leaving, and what to do if your plan is one of the ones not coming back.

The 2027 lineup at a glance

For plan year 2026, Los Angeles County had 121 Medicare Advantage plans from 21 carriers. The 2027 picture shifts: 75 plans continue, 23 leave, 26 are new, 23 are renamed, and 38 have a change to premium, deductible, type or name (we can only tell you a change exists — the specifics are in each plan's Annual Notice of Change).

Carriers active in the county include Aetna (CVS Health), AHF, Align Senior Care, Alignment Health Plan, Astiva Health, Blue Shield of California, Centene (WellCare), Champion Heath Plan, Clever Care Health Plan, Elevance Health (Anthem), Elite Health Plan, Humana, Imperial Health Plan of California, Kaiser Permanente, L.A. Care Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of California, SCAN Health Plan, UCLA Health, UnitedHealthcare and VillageHealth. The table below lists each plan by carrier and type.

What's new for 2027

Twenty-six plans are entering the Los Angeles County market for 2027. A few examples, in alphabetical order by carrier: Aetna Medicare Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP) and Aetna Medicare Eagle (HMO) from Aetna (CVS Health); Alignment Health Advantage 005 (PPO), Alignment Health BRIDGE 003 (HMO) and Alignment Health Honor Plus 060 (HMO) from Alignment Health Plan; Astiva Health C-SNP Bloom (HMO C-SNP) and Astiva Health C-SNP Fountain (HMO C-SNP) from Astiva Health; Blue Shield Advantage (HMO) and Blue Shield Value Advantage Plan (HMO) from Blue Shield of California; Wellcare Health Net Dual Align (HMO D-SNP) from Centene; Champion Compass, Champion Home and Champion Secure (HMO C-SNPs) from Champion Heath Plan; Clever Care Breathe Select+ and Clever Care Total Choice+ (HMO C-SNPs); Humana Gold Plus H3767-002 (HMO); Imperial Flex (HMO C-SNP); several new SCAN plans including SCAN Costco Medicare Advantage (HMO), SCAN Inclusive (HMO), SCAN Baekse (HMO), SCAN Ansim Care (HMO C-SNP) and CareMore Health Plan by SCAN (HMO); AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC CA-45 (HMO-POS) from UnitedHealthcare; and SCAN DaVita Dialysis Care Complete (HMO-POS C-SNP) from VillageHealth.

Many of these are Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs), designed for people with specific long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or chronic lung disease.

Plans not returning after 2026

Twenty-three plans will not be offered in Los Angeles County for 2027. The biggest single change is Central Health Medicare Plan, which is leaving the county entirely — seven plans are going away with it: Central Health Classic Care Plan I, Central Health Embrace Care Plan, Central Health Embrace Choice Plan, Central Health Jade Plan, Central Health Medicare Plan, Central Health Part B Savings Plan and Central Health Valor Care Plan.

Other plans leaving include three Aetna PPOs — Aetna Medicare Eagle (PPO), Aetna Medicare Enhanced (PPO) and Aetna Medicare Signature (PPO); three Alignment Health Plan HMOs — Alignment Health Honor+ Plan, Alignment Health My Choice Select and Alignment Health the ONE; Astiva Health Premier Plan (HMO); Wellcare Giveback (HMO) and the current Wellcare Health Net Dual Align (HMO D-SNP) (Centene is filing a new D-SNP with the same name for 2027); Champion Select (HMO-POS C-SNP); Kaiser Permanente Dual Complete South P1 (HMO D-SNP); Molina Medicare Choice Care (HMO); SCAN Affirm partnered with Included LGBTQ+ Health (HMO) and SCAN MyChoice (HMO); AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC CA-37 (HMO-POS); and VillageHealth (HMO-POS C-SNP).

If your plan is leaving: your Special Enrollment Period

When your Medicare Advantage plan is non-renewed, you get a Special Enrollment Period that runs from December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027. During this window you can:

• Join a different Medicare Advantage plan (with or without drug coverage), or
• Return to Original Medicare and sign up for a stand-alone Part D drug plan.

If you do nothing by December 7, you will roll back to Original Medicare on January 1, 2027, without Part D drug coverage. The SEP gives you until the end of February to lock in new coverage. Your plan is required to send you a non-renewal notice explaining your options — keep it.

Renamed is not the same as new

Twenty-three plans are keeping the same contract but changing their name. For example, several Aetna HMO-POS plans are being refiled as HMOs with slightly updated names, Alignment Health has added numeric suffixes to most of its lineup (such as Alignment Health My Choice 001 (HMO), previously Alignment Health My Choice (HMO)), and Blue Shield TotalDual Plan (HMO D-SNP) is now Blue Shield Medicare + Medi-Cal Plan (HMO D-SNP). If a plan looks unfamiliar on your Annual Notice of Change, check whether it is a rename of what you have today before you shop.

What else to know for 2027

Some program-wide figures for 2027 are already set:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• CMS has set the Part D national base beneficiary premium at $41.33 for 2027. That is a formula input, not what any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes them later in the fall.