Medicare Advantage

San Bernardino's 2027 Medicare Advantage roster: 75 plans from 17 carriers, sorted by carrier

People in San Bernardino can choose from 95 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 98 this year. 17 of this year’s plans are gone, 14 are new to San Bernardino County, and 52 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 20 of them under a new name.

For plan year 2027, people with Medicare who live in San Bernardino have a menu to sort through. San Bernardino sits inside San Bernardino County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File, San Bernardino County has 75 Medicare Advantage plans offered by 17 carriers for 2027, and every one of them includes prescription drug coverage. The table below lists each plan by carrier, along with its plan type and drug coverage status.

What's on the San Bernardino menu for 2027

The 98 plans available in San Bernardino County come from a mix of national names and California-focused carriers. The carriers are, in alphabetical order: Aetna (CVS Health), Alignment Health Plan, Astiva Health, Blue Shield of California, Centene (WellCare), Central Health Medicare Plan, Champion Heath Plan, Clever Care Health Plan, Elevance Health (Anthem), Elite Health Plan, Inc., Humana, IEHP DualChoice, Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Molina Healthcare of California, SCAN Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare, and VillageHealth.

The number of plans per carrier varies widely. Alignment Health Plan lists 15 plans in the county, SCAN Health Plan lists 11, and Elevance Health (Anthem) lists 10. Humana lists 8, and Centene (WellCare), Central Health Medicare Plan, Champion Heath Plan, and UnitedHealthcare each list somewhere between 5 and 7. Others — like Blue Shield of California, Elite Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of California, IEHP DualChoice, and VillageHealth — have a smaller footprint here.

Understanding the plan types

Medicare Advantage plans come in different shapes, and the shape matters as much as the name on the card.

• HMO (Health Maintenance Organization): Usually asks you to pick a primary care doctor and stay inside a set network, except for emergencies. Sixty-nine of the 98 plans in the county are HMOs.
• HMO-POS (Point of Service): An HMO with a limited "point of service" option to go out-of-network for certain services, often at a higher cost. Twenty-five plans use this design.
• PPO (Preferred Provider Organization): Gives more flexibility to see out-of-network providers, typically at a higher share of cost.

Special Needs Plans, explained

Of the 98 Medicare Advantage plans in San Bernardino County, 40 are Special Needs Plans, or SNPs. These are only for people who fit specific criteria:

• D-SNP (Dual Eligible): For people who have both Medicare and Medi-Cal. IEHP DualChoice, Kaiser Permanente, Centene (WellCare), Molina Healthcare of California, and SCAN Health Plan all offer D-SNPs in the county.
• C-SNP (Chronic Condition): For people with certain qualifying chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart conditions, or chronic lung disease. Carriers like Alignment Health Plan, Champion Heath Plan, Clever Care Health Plan, and Anthem's CareMore product lines offer these.
• I-SNP (Institutional): For people who live in a long-term care setting or need that level of care at home.

You cannot join an SNP unless you meet the eligibility rules for it. If you're not sure whether you qualify, the plan or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) can walk you through it.

Drug coverage is built in — but the rules still matter

Every one of the 75 Medicare Advantage plans in San Bernardino County for 2027 is an MA-PD, meaning it bundles Part D prescription drug coverage into the medical plan. Notably, there are no stand-alone Part D plans listed for the county in the CMS landscape file — so drug coverage inside these Medicare Advantage plans is the main way local enrollees get Part D through this roster.

A few program-wide Part D facts apply no matter which plan you pick:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 for 2026. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs hits that figure, you pay $0 for the rest of the year on covered Part D drugs.
• The Part D deductible cannot be higher than $615 in 2026. Individual plans may set it lower.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap was eliminated as of 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is optional and lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying them at the pharmacy counter.

Each plan has its own formulary (the list of drugs it covers) and its own pharmacy network, so two plans with the same $2,100 cap can still treat your specific prescriptions very differently. Always check the plan's formulary before you enroll.

How to actually decide

Start with the shape of the plan, not the name. Ask yourself:

1. Do my doctors take it? For an HMO, check that your primary care doctor and specialists are in-network. For a PPO, check both in-network and out-of-network cost shares. 2. Are my drugs on the formulary, and at what tier? The same drug can sit on different tiers in different plans. 3. Which pharmacies are preferred? In-network vs. preferred pharmacies can change what you pay. 4. Do I qualify for an SNP? If you have Medi-Cal or a chronic condition, an SNP may be designed around your situation — but only if you meet the criteria. 5. What extras matter to me? Dental, vision, hearing, transportation, and over-the-counter benefits vary a lot.

The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code and your prescriptions to see how each plan handles your specific situation. That's the right place to see costs and benefits side by side — this article intentionally doesn't quote them for individual plans.

Key dates to remember

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. You can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for coverage starting Jan. 1.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare (and pick up a stand-alone Part D plan if one is available to you).
• Higher-income surcharge (IRMAA): For a single filer in 2026, Part B and Part D income-related surcharges start above $109,000 in modified adjusted gross income.