Medicare Advantage

How Modesto's 2027 Medicare plan choices line up with the wider metro

Stanislaus County has 36 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 10 plans are not coming back, 8 are new, and 31 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 13 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Modesto, not which plan to pick.

Medicare AdvantageModesto, CA

MODESTO, Calif. — If you live in Modesto and you're sizing up your Medicare choices for 2027, it helps to know how the number of plans in your county compares with what's on offer in the counties next door. Plan availability is set at the county level, so where you live inside the metro can change how long your list of options is.

Modesto sits in Stanislaus County, and the county's 2027 lineup gives residents a menu to sort through during this fall's Annual Enrollment Period. Here's a plain look at the area picture — counts only, no plan pitches — so you can walk into your comparison with your eyes open.

What's available in Stanislaus County for 2027

For 2027, Stanislaus County residents have 23 Medicare Advantage plans available, offered by 9 different carriers with prescription drug coverage built in. Compared with 2026, 10 plans are not returning, 8 are new, and 13 have been renamed; 18 continuing plans change something in their terms, which the plan's ANOC spells out. Most people use medicare.gov's Plan Finder to narrow the field by their own doctors and prescriptions.

Stand-alone Part D drug plans — the kind you'd pair with Original Medicare — are counted separately by CMS and vary by region. If you're staying with Original Medicare and need drug coverage, it's worth checking Plan Finder directly for the current stand-alone options in your ZIP code.

Why availability changes from county to county

Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are approved to serve specific counties, not whole metro areas or states. That means a plan sold in Stanislaus County may not be sold in San Joaquin County to the north, or Merced County to the south, even though those areas share hospitals, doctors and commuter routes with Modesto.

If you're helping a parent in a nearby county, or you're thinking of moving, don't assume your plan travels with you. A move across a county line can be a qualifying event that lets you change plans outside the usual windows.

How star ratings fit in

CMS publishes Star Ratings each year to measure plan quality on things like customer service, member complaints and preventive care. Ratings are assigned at the contract level, not by county, so the same contract may serve several counties at once.

Ratings are one input among many. Your own doctors, your prescriptions, and whether a plan covers the specialists you already see typically matter more day to day than a single number.

The 2027 rules worth knowing

A few program-level facts apply everywhere, including here in the Central Valley:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit that, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D deductible: up to $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027), depending on the plan.
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional way to spread your drug costs into level monthly payments across the year.
• IRMAA: higher-income surcharges on Part B and Part D start above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates to circle

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Annual Enrollment Period. You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. Changes take effect Jan. 1.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare (with a Part D plan if needed).