Medicare Advantage

How Many Medicare Plans Can Santa Clarita Shoppers Actually Compare?

For 2027, Santa Clarita is looking at 124 Medicare Advantage plans: 26 new, 23 gone since 2026, and 61 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 23 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Los Angeles County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

If you live in Santa Clarita and you're about to look at Medicare coverage for 2027, one of the first questions is usually the simplest: how many plans am I actually choosing from? The short answer is: a lot. And knowing the size of the field helps you slow down and shop with a plan.

Santa Clarita is in Los Angeles County, where 101 Medicare Advantage plans are available for 2027, offered by 20 different carriers, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Plan Finder and the annual MA/Part D Landscape files. That's down from 121 plans and 21 carriers in 2026, with 26 new plans, 23 not returning, and 23 renamed; Central Health Medicare Plan is among the carriers not offering plans in the county next year.

Why the number of plans matters

A big menu is good news and a bit of a headache. More choices mean more chances to match a plan to your doctors, your prescriptions, and your budget. It also means it's easy to get overwhelmed and pick based on a commercial you saw on TV.

The 121 figure counts Medicare Advantage plans available at the county level. Plan availability in Medicare is set by county, not by city, so a Santa Clarita ZIP code and a Long Beach ZIP code draw from the same overall Los Angeles County list — though not every plan is offered in every ZIP.

Who's offering coverage in the area

Twenty carriers offer Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD) in Los Angeles County for 2027. That's a mix of national insurers you'd recognize and regional or California-focused organizations.

For Part D on its own — the stand-alone drug plans that pair with Original Medicare — the Landscape data for this county shows the availability count listed as 0 in the local file. Stand-alone Part D plans are actually sold on a multi-state regional basis, so California residents do have stand-alone drug plans to choose from; you'll see them when you enter your ZIP code at medicare.gov.

What Star Ratings tell you (and what they don't)

CMS publishes Star Ratings each year to measure plan quality, from 1 to 5 stars. They look at things like customer service, member complaints, and how well plans manage chronic conditions.

Ratings are a useful sanity check, but they aren't the whole story. A high-rated plan that doesn't cover your doctor or your medication isn't the right plan for you. Use stars as one input, not the deciding factor.

The 2027 rules worth knowing before you shop

A few program-wide facts apply no matter which plan you look at:

• Part D out-of-pocket costs are capped at $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once you hit the cap, covered drugs cost you nothing for the rest of the year.
• The Part D deductible can be no more than $700 in 2027 (it was $615 in 2026).
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter. It's optional and free to opt into.
• IRMAA surcharges — higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher-income enrollees — start above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates for Santa Clarita enrollees

• October 15 – December 7: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. You can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. Changes take effect January 1.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare (and add a Part D plan).

How to sort through 121 options without losing your weekend

Start with three lists: your doctors, your prescriptions, and the pharmacies you actually use. Then go to medicare.gov/plan-compare and enter your ZIP code. Plan Finder will narrow the field to plans available where you live, show which cover your drugs, and estimate your yearly costs.

If you'd rather talk to a human, two free, unbiased options exist:

• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• California's SHIP, called HICAP (Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program). Counselors are trained and don't sell insurance.