Medicare Advantage

How to Sort Through Modesto's 2027 Medicare Lineup

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.

Modesto shoppers, if you feel overwhelmed staring at your Medicare mail this fall, you are not imagining it. Stanislaus County has a Medicare Advantage lineup for 2027 — 23 plans in all, offered by 9 different carriers — and knowing how many options are on the table is the first step to narrowing them down with confidence.

This article is about the counts — how big the menu is around Modesto and how to work through it. It does not rank plans or name benefits. For those personal details, we will point you to official sources at the end.

How big is the Modesto menu?

Modesto sits in Stanislaus County, and Medicare plan availability is set at the county level. That means every Modesto resident on Medicare is choosing from the same countywide lineup.

For 2027, that lineup includes:

• 23 Medicare Advantage plans in Stanislaus County
• 9 carriers offering Medicare Advantage with prescription coverage (MA-PD)
• 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed in the county's MA landscape data

With roughly 76,271 residents age 65 and older in the county, that is a lot of neighbors making the same decision at the same time. Twenty-three plans is still more than most people can compare one by one, and this year 10 plans are not returning, 8 are new and 13 have been renamed — so a simple sorting method helps.

Why the number of plans matters — and why it doesn't

More options can be a good thing. They mean more competition and more chances to find a plan that fits your doctors, your prescriptions and your budget. But more options also mean more chances to feel stuck.

Here is the honest truth: the "right" number of plans for you is probably three or four. Your job during the Annual Enrollment Period is not to compare all 23 — it is to filter the 23 down to a short list you can actually study.

A simple way to narrow 23 down to a few

Before you open the Medicare Plan Finder, jot down four things:

1. Your doctors and hospitals. Which ones do you want to keep seeing? 2. Your prescriptions. Exact names, doses and how often you take them. 3. Your pharmacy. Retail, mail order, or both. 4. Your travel. Do you spend time outside California?

Those four answers will eliminate a big chunk of the 23 plans on their own. From there, you can compare the survivors on premiums, out-of-pocket maximums and extras — the details this article intentionally does not cover, because those numbers are plan-specific and change year to year.

What Star Ratings tell you (and what they don't)

Medicare publishes Star Ratings, from 1 to 5, that measure things like customer service and care quality at the contract level. They are useful context, but they are not a scoreboard for picking a winner. In the Stanislaus County data, zero contracts are rated 4 stars or higher for the current cycle, so local shoppers should lean more heavily on the four fit questions above rather than on ratings alone.

Key 2027 dates and dollar figures to keep in mind

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Annual Enrollment Period. Changes take effect Jan. 1.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment, for people already in an MA plan.
• $2,400: The Part D out-of-pocket cap for covered drugs in 2027.
• $700: The maximum Part D deductible for 2027.
• Coverage gap: The old "donut hole" was eliminated in 2025. Part D now has three phases.
• Prescription Payment Plan: An optional program that lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly bills instead of paying them all at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA: Higher-income surcharges on Part B and Part D premiums begin above $109,000 for single filers in 2026.

Where to get personalized help

Because we cannot recommend a specific plan, please lean on the free, official resources built for exactly this:

• Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov lets you enter your drugs, pharmacy and doctors, then compare plans side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24/7.
• California's SHIP program, called HICAP, offers free one-on-one counseling. You can find your local HICAP office through medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-434-0222.