Medicare Advantage

Which Carriers Sell Modesto Medicare Advantage in 2027?

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.

If you live in Modesto and want to see who is selling Medicare Advantage for the 2027 plan year, the list is set. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File, Modesto sits in Stanislaus County, where 9 carriers are offering 23 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. The table below lists every plan by carrier, along with its plan type and whether it includes drug coverage.

What "available in Modesto" actually means

Medicare Advantage is sold county by county, not city by city. So when we say a plan is available in Modesto, what CMS is really telling us is that the plan is offered throughout Stanislaus County. Anyone with Medicare who lives in the county's service area can consider these plans during a valid enrollment window.

For 2027, CMS lists 23 Medicare Advantage plans in Stanislaus County. Of the 2026 roster, 10 plans are not returning, 8 are new, 13 have been renamed, and 18 continuing plans change something in their terms — those changes are spelled out in each plan's Annual Notice of Change.

The carriers offering Medicare Advantage in 2027

Ten carriers are on the Stanislaus County roster for 2026. In alphabetical order, they are:

• Alignment Health Plan — 14 plans (HMO and PPO; 7 are Special Needs Plans)
• Blue Shield of California — 1 plan (HMO)
• Centene (WellCare) — 1 plan (HMO; 1 Special Needs Plan)
• Central Health Medicare Plan — 4 plans (HMO; 3 Special Needs Plans)
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — 2 plans (HMO-POS and PPO; 1 Special Needs Plan)
• Health Plan of San Joaquin / Mountain Valley Health Plan — 1 plan (HMO D-SNP)
• Humana — 4 plans (HMO and PPO)
• Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc. — 3 plans (HMO; 1 Special Needs Plan)
• Kaiser Permanente — 3 plans (HMO; 1 Special Needs Plan)
• SCAN Health Plan — 5 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs Plans)

The table below lists every plan by carrier so you can see the full lineup at a glance.

Plan types on the local list, in plain English

Most of the Modesto-area lineup is HMO. With an HMO, you generally pick a primary care doctor and stay inside the plan's network, except for emergencies. HMO-POS ("point of service") is like an HMO but lets you go outside the network for certain services, usually at higher cost. PPO plans give you more flexibility to see out-of-network providers, again usually for a higher share of the bill.

Beyond those basics, 17 of the 38 local plans are Special Needs Plans, or SNPs. A D-SNP is for people who have both Medicare and Medi-Cal. A C-SNP is for people with certain chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease. SNPs have eligibility rules, so not everyone can join one.

Part D coverage is built into every plan on this list

Each of the 23 Medicare Advantage plans available in Stanislaus County for 2027 that bundles Part D is an MA-PD. If you enroll in an MA-PD, you generally cannot also enroll in a stand-alone Part D plan.

A few program-wide Part D facts worth knowing for 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 ($2,400 in 2027). Once your covered drug spending hits that amount, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027), though plans may set a lower one.
• The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") was eliminated as of 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage and catastrophic.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter. It is optional.

Specific drug lists, tiers and copays vary by plan, and this article does not compare them. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is the tool CMS built for that.

Dates to keep on the calendar

Two enrollment windows matter most for people already on Medicare:

• Annual Enrollment Period: Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026. Anything you choose takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: Jan. 1 through March 31, 2027. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance during this window to switch to a different Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.

Special Enrollment Periods may also apply if you move, lose other coverage, or qualify for Extra Help or Medi-Cal.

How to compare the plans on this list

Because we cannot list premiums, copays, networks or star ratings for individual plans here, the fastest way to compare them accurately is to use official sources:

• Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code and your medications and see every plan side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is staffed 24/7 for questions.
• California's SHIP program, called HICAP, offers free one-on-one counseling. You can reach HICAP at 1-800-434-0222.

Higher-income households should also know about IRMAA, the income-related surcharge that raises Part B and Part D premiums. For 2026, IRMAA begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer.