Medicare Advantage

Before Dec. 7: how to weigh L.A.'s 2027 Medicare plans

People in Los Angeles can choose from 124 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 121 this year. 23 of this year’s plans are gone, 26 are new to Los Angeles County, and 61 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 23 of them under a new name.

Los Angeles — The window to change your 2027 Medicare Advantage coverage is open now and closes Dec. 7, 2026. If you live in Los Angeles, you have a lot to sort through: Los Angeles County's 2027 lineup lists 124 Medicare Advantage plans from 20 carriers, with 26 plans new for 2027 and 23 not returning, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. Here is a plain, step-by-step way to compare what is on offer before the deadline.

What is changing in Los Angeles County for 2027

Medicare Advantage plans are set at the county level, so Los Angeles's choices are the same as the rest of Los Angeles County's. For 2027, the county has 124 plans from 20 carriers, compared with 121 plans from 21 carriers in 2026. The mix by plan type for 2027 is 95 HMO, 23 HMO-POS and 6 PPO. Every plan on next year's list includes drug coverage.

Twenty-six plans are new for 2027 and twenty-three are not returning. Some plans have also been renamed. If your plan is one of those not returning, your carrier will send a non-renewal notice and you will have a Special Enrollment Period to pick something else. If you do nothing and your plan is renewing, it will roll over on Jan. 1, 2027 with whatever changes the plan has made.

The table below lists every 2027 plan in Los Angeles County by carrier so you can see the full field in one place.

Special Needs Plans in the 2027 lineup

Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are a type of Medicare Advantage plan built around a specific group. Los Angeles County's 2027 lineup includes three kinds:

• D-SNPs for people with both Medicare and Medi-Cal (8 plans).
• C-SNPs for people with certain chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, lung conditions or kidney disease (41 plans).
• I-SNPs for people who live in or need the level of care provided in an institution (5 plans).

Carriers that include at least one D-SNP in Los Angeles County for 2027 are Blue Shield of California, Centene (WellCare), Elevance Health (Anthem), Kaiser Permanente, L.A. Care Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of California and SCAN Health Plan. If you qualify for a SNP, you can only join one that matches your situation; your doctor or Medi-Cal office can confirm whether you qualify.

A six-step way to compare plans before Dec. 7

Give yourself an hour with your current plan documents and a list of your doctors, hospitals and prescriptions. Then walk through these steps.

1. Read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Your current plan mailed this in September. It compares 2026 to 2027 for the same plan — the premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, extra benefits and the provider network. If nothing in the ANOC bothers you, you may not need to change anything.

2. Check your doctors and hospitals. On the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, open each plan you are considering and look up every provider you want to keep. Networks change every year. Call the doctor's office too; the plan's directory is not always current.

3. Enter your prescriptions. The Plan Finder lets you add each drug, dose and frequency. It will then show the plan's drug tier, your estimated yearly drug cost and whether the drug needs prior approval or step therapy. A drug that was covered in 2026 may sit on a different tier in 2027.

4. Pick your pharmacy. The same drug can cost a different amount at a preferred pharmacy versus a standard one, and some plans use mail order. In the Plan Finder, set your pharmacy before you compare — the totals change.

5. Think about plan type. HMO plans usually ask you to stay in-network and get a referral to see a specialist. HMO-POS plans let you go out of network for some services, usually at a higher cost. PPO plans give you more out-of-network flexibility. Los Angeles County's 2027 mix leans heavily HMO — 95 of 124 plans — so if a PPO matters to you, your shortlist will be smaller.

6. Look at the whole picture, not just the premium. The monthly premium is one number. The deductible, copays, the yearly out-of-pocket maximum, drug costs and extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, transportation, over-the-counter) all add up differently depending on how you use care.

What is new at the program level for 2027

A couple of Part D changes affect every Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage — which, in Los Angeles County, is all 124 of them.

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once your drug spending hits that cap, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. Plans can set a lower deductible or none at all.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available. It lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly bills instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.

CMS has not yet published the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible or the 2027 IRMAA income brackets; those usually come out in November. Watch medicare.gov for the announcement.

Where to get help

The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is the single best place to compare plans with your own doctors and drugs. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For the fine print on any plan — the full list of covered drugs, the provider directory and the rules — ask the plan for its Evidence of Coverage.