Medicare Advantage

Santa Ana's 2027 Medicare Advantage roster: 16 carriers, 92 plans

Orange County has 111 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 21 plans are not coming back, 28 are new, and 51 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 19 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Santa Ana, not which plan to pick.

Shopping for a Medicare Advantage plan in Santa Ana this fall? The full 2027 lineup is set. Santa Ana sits inside Orange County, and Orange County is where Medicare Advantage availability is set. For plan year 2027, 16 carriers are offering 92 Medicare Advantage plans in the county — and every one of them includes prescription drug coverage.

The table below lists every plan by carrier, along with its plan type (HMO, HMO‑POS or PPO) and whether it is a Special Needs Plan. This article walks you through how to read that list so you can narrow it down with confidence.

What Santa Ana shoppers are actually choosing from

Orange County's 2027 Medicare Advantage roster breaks down like this:

• 75 HMO plans
• 21 HMO‑POS plans
• 8 PPO plans
• 40 Special Needs Plans (a subset of the above)
• 104 plans with Part D drug coverage built in (every plan on the list)

Because every Medicare Advantage plan in the county includes drug coverage in 2027, most Santa Ana shoppers won't need a stand‑alone Part D plan on top — in fact, the county has zero stand‑alone Part D plans in the Medicare Advantage lineup for people staying with an MA plan. (Stand‑alone Part D plans still exist nationally for people on Original Medicare; they're just tracked separately.)

The 17 carriers offering plans in the county

Here are the carriers with Medicare Advantage plans available in Orange County for 2027, in alphabetical order, with how many plans each one is offering:

• Aetna (CVS Health): 7 plans (HMO, HMO‑POS, PPO)
• Align Senior Care: 3 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs)
• Alignment Health Plan: 17 plans (HMO, PPO; 7 Special Needs)
• Astiva Health: 4 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs)
• Blue Shield of California: 4 plans (HMO)
• CalOptima Health OneCare: 1 plan (HMO; 1 Special Needs)
• Centene (WellCare): 6 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs)
• Central Health Medicare Plan: 7 plans (HMO; 3 Special Needs)
• Champion Health Plan: 7 plans (HMO, HMO‑POS; 6 Special Needs)
• Clever Care Health Plan: 4 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs)
• Elevance Health (Anthem): 12 plans (HMO, HMO‑POS; 6 Special Needs)
• Humana: 7 plans (HMO, PPO)
• Imperial Health Plan of California, Inc.: 3 plans (HMO; 1 Special Needs)
• Kaiser Permanente: 4 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs)
• Providence Medicare Advantage Plans: 1 plan (HMO)
• SCAN Health Plan: 10 plans (HMO; 4 Special Needs)
• UnitedHealthcare: 7 plans (HMO, HMO‑POS; 2 Special Needs)

The specific plan names — for example, Aetna Medicare Eagle (PPO), Blue Shield 65 Plus (HMO), Kaiser Permanente Senior Advantage LA, Orange Co. (HMO), SCAN Classic (HMO) or AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC CA‑005P (HMO‑POS) — are all listed in the table below. Nothing on that list is being singled out here as better or cheaper than another; we're only showing you what is available.

How to read the plan types

Most of the plans on the Santa Ana lineup are HMOs. A quick primer:

• HMO (Health Maintenance Organization): You generally pick a primary care doctor and get care from the plan's network. Referrals are usually needed to see a specialist.
• HMO‑POS (Point of Service): Works like an HMO, but lets you go outside the network for certain services, usually at a higher cost.
• PPO (Preferred Provider Organization): You can see providers inside or outside the network, though staying in‑network typically costs less. Referrals usually aren't required.

If having the flexibility to see a doctor without a referral is important to you, the 8 PPO plans and 21 HMO‑POS plans in the county are worth a closer look. If you already have a primary care doctor in a large local system such as Kaiser Permanente, Providence or one of the CareMore/Anthem networks, check first that your doctor is in‑network for the plan you're considering.

Special Needs Plans: are you eligible?

Of the 104 plans in the county, 40 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs). SNPs are built for people who meet specific conditions:

• D‑SNP (Dual eligible): For people who have both Medicare and Medi‑Cal.
• C‑SNP (Chronic condition): For people living with certain long‑term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or lung disease.
• I‑SNP (Institutional): For people who live in a nursing facility or need that level of care at home.

You can only enroll in an SNP if you qualify. In Orange County, carriers with SNP options in 2027 include Alignment Health Plan, CalOptima Health OneCare, Centene (WellCare), Champion Health Plan, Clever Care Health Plan, Elevance Health (Anthem), Kaiser Permanente, SCAN Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare and others listed above.

What's new at the program level for 2027

Even without comparing specific plans, a few Medicare‑wide changes affect what your drug coverage will look like in 2027:

• The Part D out‑of‑pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your spending on covered drugs hits that amount, you pay nothing more for the rest of the year.
• The maximum Part D deductible is $615 for 2026 and $700 for 2027 (individual plans can set it lower).
• The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone 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 calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter. It's optional and free to join.
• IRMAA (the income‑based surcharge on Part B and Part D) starts above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Dates to circle

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. Anyone with Medicare 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 on Jan. 1, you get one chance to switch to a different MA plan or go back to Original Medicare.

How to compare the Santa Ana lineup

With 104 plans on the table, it helps to filter before you compare:

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. Ask each one which Medicare Advantage plans they take for 2027. 2. Add your prescriptions. Every plan has its own drug list (formulary) and preferred pharmacies. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov lets you enter your medications to see how each plan covers them. 3. Think about how you use care. If you travel or split time between counties, a PPO or HMO‑POS may fit better than a strict HMO. 4. Check SNP eligibility. If you have Medi‑Cal, a chronic condition or live in a facility, a Special Needs Plan may be a better match than a general MA plan. 5. **Read the plan's own documents.