Medicare Advantage

Long Beach Medicare Advantage in 2027: what HMO, HMO-POS, PPO and PFFS actually mean before you choose

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. When the Annual Enrollment Period opens Oct. 15, Long Beach residents comparing Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 will see a familiar set of letters next to each plan name: HMO, HMO-POS, PPO, PFFS. Those letters are not marketing fluff. They tell you how the plan handles your doctor network, whether you need referrals, and what happens if you need care outside the plan's circle.

Long Beach is in Los Angeles County, where CMS lists 124 Medicare Advantage plans from 20 carriers for 2027. By plan type, that breaks down to 95 HMO plans, 23 HMO-POS plans and 6 PPO plans. No PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service) plans are offered in the county for 2027, though it helps to know what PFFS is in case you see it mentioned elsewhere.

Here is what each type means, and which carriers are offering what next year.

HMO: the biggest group in the county

An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plan asks you to pick a primary care doctor and use the plan's network for routine care. In most HMO plans, you need a referral from your primary care doctor to see a specialist, and care outside the network is generally not covered except for emergencies and urgent care.

HMO is by far the most common type in Los Angeles County for 2027, with 95 plans. Carriers offering HMO plans next year 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, Inc., Humana, Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, L.A. Care Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of California, SCAN Health Plan, UCLA Health Medicare Advantage Plan and UnitedHealthcare.

The HMO fit question is simple: are your doctors and your preferred hospital in the plan's network, and are you comfortable going through a primary care doctor to coordinate specialist visits?

HMO-POS: an HMO with a side door

HMO-POS stands for HMO with a Point-of-Service option. It works like an HMO for most things, but it lets you get certain services from out-of-network providers — usually at a higher cost-share, and often only for specific types of care spelled out in the plan documents.

Los Angeles County has 23 HMO-POS plans for 2027. The carriers offering them are Aetna (CVS Health), Champion Heath Plan, Elevance Health (Anthem), UnitedHealthcare and VillageHealth.

If an HMO network covers almost everything you need but you want a little flexibility — say, a specialist across town who is not in-network — the point-of-service option can matter. Just read the Evidence of Coverage carefully: the out-of-network rules vary a lot from plan to plan.

PPO: more flexibility, usually with trade-offs

A PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) plan has a network, but it also covers out-of-network care — typically at a higher cost than in-network. You generally do not need referrals to see specialists.

PPO is the smallest group in Los Angeles County for 2027, with 6 plans. Two carriers offer them: Alignment Health Plan and Humana.

PPOs tend to appeal to people who split their time between places, want to keep seeing a doctor outside the main network, or do not want to think about referrals. Out-of-network care is covered, but it is not free — check the plan's specific cost-share rules before assuming any provider is a good fit.

PFFS: not offered in the county for 2027

PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service) is a fourth Medicare Advantage plan type. In a PFFS plan, you can see any Medicare-approved provider who agrees to accept the plan's payment terms — there is often no formal network, and referrals are usually not required.

For 2027, no PFFS plans are offered in Los Angeles County. If you have seen the term in Medicare materials, that is why it is not showing up in your Long Beach options.

How to use plan type as a filter

Plan type is one of the first filters on Medicare's Plan Finder at medicare.gov, and it is a useful one. A few questions to work through:

• Which doctors and hospitals do you want to keep using? Call them and ask which 2027 plans they will accept.
• Do you travel for long stretches, or spend time outside California? Out-of-network coverage matters more.
• Are you comfortable with a primary care doctor coordinating your specialists, or do you want to self-refer?
• How do your current prescriptions line up with the plan's drug list? All 124 Medicare Advantage plans in the county for 2027 include drug coverage.

The table on this page lists every 2027 Medicare Advantage plan in the county by carrier and type, so you can see your full set of options in one place.

What else is changing for 2027

A few program-level 2027 figures CMS has already confirmed:

• 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).
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium is $41.33 for 2027 — a formula input, not what any specific plan charges.

CMS has not yet announced the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, or the 2027 IRMAA income brackets. Those typically come out later in the fall.

In Los Angeles County, 23 plans are not returning for 2027, 26 are new, and 23 have been renamed. If your current plan is renewing, your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) will spell out what is different for next year. If you do nothing, your plan simply renews as described in that notice.