Medicare Advantage

Comparing Medicare Advantage plans in San Jose for 2027: a step-by-step guide before Dec. 7

People in San Jose can choose from 36 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 46 this year. 15 of this year’s plans are gone, 5 are new to Santa Clara County, and 31 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 13 of them under a new name.

SAN JOSE — Fall 2026 is comparison season for Medicare, and the window to switch plans for next year runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026. Anything you change in that window starts January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current Medicare Advantage plan simply renews for 2027 — as long as it is still offered — with whatever updates are spelled out in your Annual Notice of Change.

San Jose is in Santa Clara County, where the 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup is a little slimmer than it was this year. According to CMS Landscape files, the county will have 36 Medicare Advantage plans from 10 carriers in 2027, down from 46 plans and 12 carriers in 2026. Five plans are new for 2027, 15 are not returning, and some have been renamed. That makes a side-by-side comparison worth the time, even if you liked your plan this year.

What San Jose's 2027 lineup looks like

For 2027, Santa Clara County's 36 Medicare Advantage plans break down as 33 HMOs, 2 HMO-POS plans and 1 PPO. All 36 include prescription drug coverage. There are 17 Special Needs Plans in the mix: 3 Dual Eligible (D-SNP) plans for people with both Medicare and Medi-Cal, 12 Chronic Condition (C-SNP) plans for people managing conditions like diabetes or heart disease, and 2 Institutional (I-SNP) plans.

The 10 carriers offering plans in the county for 2027, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health), Align Senior Care, Alignment Health Plan, Astiva Health, Blue Shield of California, Elevance Health (Anthem), Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara Family Health Plan, and SCAN Health Plan. The table on this page lists every plan each carrier offers.

What's new, what's not returning

Five plans are new to Santa Clara County for 2027, and 15 plans offered in 2026 will not be back. Thirteen plans have new names for 2027 — same plan, different label. If your plan was renamed, your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) will say so.

Two important things to know:

• If your current plan is one of the 15 not returning, you will get a non-renewal letter from your carrier and a Special Enrollment Period to choose a new plan. You do not lose Medicare — only that plan ends.
• If your plan is renewing (even with a new name), it will roll over automatically on January 1, 2027. You still want to read the ANOC to see what changed.

Step 1: Start with your Annual Notice of Change

Your ANOC arrives by late September. It is the single most useful document in this process. It lays out what is different about your current plan in 2027 compared with 2026 — the premium, the deductible, copays for primary care and specialists, hospital cost shares, the drug formulary, the pharmacy network, and extra benefits like dental, vision or over-the-counter allowances.

Flag anything that matters to you. If nothing material changes and you are happy, you are allowed to do nothing. If something changed in a way that affects your care or budget, that is your cue to compare.

Step 2: Check your doctors and hospitals

Medicare Advantage plans use networks. Before you consider any plan — including the one you have — confirm that the doctors, specialists and hospitals you use are in that plan's network for 2027. Networks can change from year to year.

Two reliable ways to check:

• Call the doctor's office directly and ask which 2027 plans they will accept. Give the exact plan name.
• Look up the plan's online provider directory, or call the plan's member services line listed on medicare.gov.

For hospital care in the San Jose area, confirm the specific hospital system you prefer is in-network — not just "a hospital nearby."

Step 3: Check your prescriptions and pharmacy

Every 2027 Medicare Advantage plan in Santa Clara County includes drug coverage, but formularies (the lists of covered drugs), tiers, and preferred pharmacies differ from plan to plan.

The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is built for this. Enter your ZIP code, add each of your medications and doses, and choose your preferred pharmacy. The tool will show you each plan's estimated yearly drug cost based on your actual list. It will also flag coverage restrictions like prior authorization or step therapy.

Two program-level numbers to keep in mind for 2027: the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 (up from $615 in 2026). These are ceilings set by Medicare; individual plans may set lower deductibles.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available — it lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.

Step 4: Compare plans side by side on the Plan Finder

Once you have your drug list and preferred pharmacy loaded, the Plan Finder lets you compare up to three plans at a time. Look at:

• Monthly premium and any Part B premium reduction
• Medical deductible and out-of-pocket maximum
• Copays for primary care, specialists, urgent care and hospital stays
• Drug tier and estimated yearly drug cost for your medications
• Extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, fitness, transportation, OTC)
• Star Ratings, which measure plan quality on a 5-point scale

If you want help, 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A note on what we don't know yet

CMS has not yet announced the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, or the 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges for higher earners. These are usually published in the fall, often in November. If those figures matter to your decision, keep an eye on medicare.gov as the AEP window closes.