Medicare Advantage

Does your Riverside Blue Shield plan change in 2027?

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Fall 2026. If you have a Blue Shield of California Medicare Advantage plan in Riverside, or you're thinking about one for next year, the 2027 lineup is now set. Blue Shield of California is offering two Medicare Advantage plans in Riverside County for 2027, and both are HMOs that include drug coverage. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

This article walks through what Blue Shield of California is offering locally for 2027 — plan by plan — and how to check any of them against your own doctors and prescriptions before the December 7 deadline. MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent news and education site; we are not Blue Shield of California, and we are not Medicare.

Which Blue Shield of California Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Riverside for 2027?

Blue Shield of California is offering two Medicare Advantage plans in Riverside County for 2027: Blue Shield 65 Plus (HMO) and Blue Shield 65 Plus Choice Plan (HMO). Both are HMOs and both include Part D prescription drug coverage. The table below lists every plan.

Riverside sits inside Riverside County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level, so the same two plans show up for Riverside residents and for others across the county. Blue Shield of California is not offering any Special Needs Plans (D-SNP, C-SNP or I-SNP) in the county for 2027.

What is new or not returning from Blue Shield of California in Riverside County for 2027?

Nothing is new and nothing is leaving. Blue Shield of California has zero new Medicare Advantage plans in Riverside County for 2027 and zero plans that are not returning. That means both plans offered in 2026 are available again in 2027 under the same names.

That doesn't mean nothing has changed inside the plans. Every Medicare Advantage member gets an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) each fall. The ANOC spells out what is different for the coming year — things like the premium, drug tiers, copays, the provider network and extra benefits. If you're already in one of these plans, the ANOC is the document that tells you exactly what your 2027 coverage will look like.

How do I check a Blue Shield of California plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Plan Finder lets you enter your ZIP code, add your prescriptions and your preferred pharmacies, and see how each plan treats them. You can also pull up the plan's own Evidence of Coverage, formulary (drug list) and provider directory on the carrier's website.

A short checklist before you commit:

• Doctors and hospitals. Confirm each one is in the plan's network for 2027, not just 2026. Networks can change on January 1.
• Prescriptions. Check that every drug you take is on the plan's 2027 formulary, which tier it sits on, and whether it needs prior authorization or step therapy.
• Pharmacy. Make sure your usual pharmacy is a preferred pharmacy — the tier a pharmacy sits on can change your out-of-pocket cost.
• Extras you actually use. Dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter and transportation benefits vary by plan and by year.

If you call the plan directly to confirm a doctor or a drug, write down the date, the representative's name, and what they told you.

What happens if I do nothing by December 7, 2026?

If you do nothing, your current Medicare Advantage plan renews on January 1, 2027, with the changes described in your ANOC — as long as the plan is still offered. Because Blue Shield of California has no Riverside County plans leaving for 2027, members of its two plans will roll into the 2027 version of the same plan automatically.

You still have a second window after that. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 through March 31, 2027, and lets anyone already in a Medicare Advantage plan switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare once during those three months.

What else is changing in Medicare for 2027?

A few program-wide numbers are already confirmed by CMS for 2027, and they apply no matter which plan you choose:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33 — a formula input CMS uses, not the premium any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, had not been announced as of September 2026. CMS typically publishes those in the fall, usually November. The coverage gap ("donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases, and the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan remains available if you want to spread drug costs across the calendar year.

How does Blue Shield of California fit into the Riverside County market for 2027?

Blue Shield of California is one of 18 carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans in Riverside County for 2027, and the county has 88 Medicare Advantage plans in total from all carriers combined. In other words, Blue Shield of California's two plans are part of a much larger local menu, and other carriers may offer HMOs, PPOs or Special Needs Plans that Blue Shield of California does not.

We do not rank plans or carriers, and we do not quote premiums, copays, deductibles, star ratings, networks or benefits for any specific plan. Those details change, and the only authoritative sources for your situation are medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, and the plan's own documents.