Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in California Medicare Advantage for 2027: 74 Plans Leaving, 158 Changing

SACRAMENTO — The 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup in California looks different from the one Californians signed up for a year earlier. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files for CY2026 and CY2027, the state will have 394 Medicare Advantage plans available for 2027, down from 402 for 2026. Behind that small net change is a bigger churn: 74 plans offered somewhere in California for 2026 will not be offered anywhere in the state for 2027, 158 plans that return are changing in at least one county, 66 are new for 2027, and 170 are continuing unchanged.

Four carriers have no California Medicare Advantage plans listed for 2027: Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company, Central Health Medicare Plan, Providence Medicare Advantage Plans, and Sharp Health Plan. One carrier is new to California for 2027: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

What the statewide numbers mean

CMS publishes a Landscape Source File each year listing every Medicare Advantage plan offered in every county. Compare the CY2026 file to the CY2027 file and the moving parts become visible. A plan is counted as "leaving" if it was offered somewhere in California for 2026 and is offered nowhere in the state for 2027. A plan is counted as "changing" if it is offered in both years but differs on premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name in at least one California county. Statewide for 2027: 74 plans leaving, 158 changing, 66 new, and 170 continuing unchanged. Each plan is counted once statewide, regardless of how many counties it serves.

Across California's 58 counties, 50 of 56 counties with Medicare Advantage activity see at least one plan leave or change.

If your plan is leaving

If your 2026 plan is among the 74 that will not be offered anywhere in California for 2027, you will receive a non-renewal notice from your current plan. You then have two ways to act.

First, you can use the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), October 15 through December 7, 2026. A choice made during AEP takes effect January 1, 2027, with no gap in coverage.

Second, if you miss AEP, members whose plans are not renewed get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that runs through the end of February 2027. The SEP gives you additional time to choose another Medicare Advantage plan or move to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan.

A member who does nothing when a plan is non-renewed does not stay in that plan — the plan no longer exists. That is why reading the mail from your carrier this fall matters.

If your plan is changing

Of the plans returning for 2027, 158 are changing in at least one county on premium, drug deductible, plan type, or name as reflected in the CMS Landscape file. If your plan is one of them, your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) is the document that lists the specifics for your plan in your county for 2027. It arrives from your carrier in the fall and compares what you have in 2026 with what you will have in 2027.

A member who does nothing stays enrolled in a renewing plan with the changes described in the ANOC. That is a legitimate choice — but it should be an informed one. Reading the ANOC alongside your prescription list and your preferred providers is the straightforward way to know whether the 2027 version of your plan still fits.

The counties with the most change

Some counties see more movement than others. The CMS files show the following plan counts for 2027 (plans leaving and plans changing, by county):

• Los Angeles County: 23 leaving, 38 changing
• San Diego County: 26 leaving, 28 changing
• Orange County: 21 leaving, 32 changing
• Riverside County: 17 leaving, 32 changing
• San Bernardino County: 17 leaving, 32 changing
• San Francisco County: 12 leaving, 22 changing
• San Joaquin County: 14 leaving, 19 changing
• Santa Clara County: 15 leaving, 18 changing

These are county-level counts of plan activity, not a judgment about any plan.

What to do before December 7

A simple checklist for the weeks between October 15 and December 7, 2026:

1. Watch the mail in September and October for either a non-renewal letter or an ANOC from your current carrier. 2. If you got a non-renewal letter, your plan is one of the 74 leaving. Plan to use AEP, and know the SEP runs through the end of February 2027 if you need more time. 3. If you got an ANOC, your plan may be among the 158 changing. Read the ANOC side-by-side with your current coverage. 4. Make a short list of what matters to you: your prescriptions, your doctors and hospitals, and the pharmacies you use. 5. Compare plans available in your county using the official Plan Finder on Medicare.gov. 6. If you want to switch, do it by December 7, 2026, so coverage starts January 1, 2027.

Where to get free help

You do not have to sort through this alone, and you do not have to pay anyone to help you.

• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder, which uses the same CMS Landscape and Plan Finder data referenced above.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• California's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known locally as the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), offers free one-on-one counseling from trained volunteers who do not sell insurance.