Medicare Advantage

Medicare and Medicaid in Colorado: 23 Dual Special Needs Plans for 2027

DENVER — Coloradans who have both Medicare and Health First Colorado (the state's Medicaid program) will have 23 Dual Special Needs Plans to look at for 2027, drawn from a broader slate of 104 Medicare Advantage plans listed statewide in the federal plan files. The D-SNP count is one slice of the Special Needs Plan picture in Colorado, which also includes 12 Chronic Condition SNPs and 4 Institutional SNPs for 2027.

D-SNPs are built specifically for people who qualify for both programs. They coordinate Medicare benefits with the Medicaid benefits the state already provides, and in Colorado all 23 of the 2027 D-SNPs include Part D drug coverage. Availability, though, is county by county: a plan on the statewide list may or may not be offered where a particular reader lives.

What is a D-SNP in Colorado and who qualifies in 2027?

A Dual Special Needs Plan in Colorado is a type of Medicare Advantage plan limited to people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, with eligibility confirmed by Health First Colorado, the state Medicaid agency. Both "full" dual eligibles (people who get the full Medicaid benefit) and "partial" dual eligibles (people in a Medicare Savings Program that helps with Medicare costs) can qualify, depending on the plan's category.

D-SNPs are designed to line up Medicare's hospital, medical and drug coverage with the Medicaid benefits the state already pays for, so one plan handles the Medicare side while Medicaid continues underneath. All 23 of Colorado's 2027 D-SNPs are listed with Part D drug coverage included. Specific benefits, provider networks, drug lists and cost sharing vary by plan and are spelled out in each plan's Evidence of Coverage and provider and pharmacy directories — not in this article.

How many D-SNPs are offered statewide in Colorado for 2027, and which carriers offer them?

Colorado's 2027 statewide list contains 23 D-SNPs out of 104 Medicare Advantage plans overall, offered by eight carriers. In alphabetical order, those carriers and the number of D-SNPs each has on the statewide list are: Aetna (CVS Health) with 3, Devoted Health with 3, Elevance Health (Anthem) with 1, Elevate Medicare Advantage with 1, HealthSpring with 2, Humana with 4, Kaiser Permanente with 3, and UnitedHealthcare with 6.

Several plans are new to Colorado for 2027, including Aetna Medicare Full Dual Extra Care, HealthSpring TotalCare and HealthSpring TotalCare Plus, and three UnitedHealthcare plans sharing the UHC Dual Complete CO-S4 and CO-S5 naming. UnitedHealthcare has also renamed several of its D-SNPs — for example, UHC Dual Complete CO-S002 is listed for 2027 as UHC Dual Complete CO-Q1. The full plan-by-plan list, with each plan's county count, appears in the table on this page rather than being repeated in prose here.

The 23 D-SNPs sit alongside Colorado's other Special Needs Plans for 2027: 12 C-SNPs for people with qualifying chronic conditions and 4 I-SNPs for people who live in or need an institutional level of care.

How often can a dual-eligible person in Colorado change Medicare plans in 2027?

A dual-eligible Coloradan has more chances to change plans than most Medicare beneficiaries. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any choice made in that window takes effect January 1, 2027. That is the main window for everyone with Medicare.

On top of that, people who have both Medicare and Medicaid generally qualify for a Special Enrollment Period that lets them make a change once during each of the first three calendar quarters of the year — January through March, April through June, and July through September. There is also a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027, for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. Rules about how often these windows can be used can change, so it is worth confirming the current rule at medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE before switching.

How do I check whether a D-SNP is offered in my Colorado county for 2027?

The reliable way to check whether any of Colorado's 23 D-SNPs is offered in a specific county for 2027 is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, which filters plans by ZIP code and county, or a call to 1-800-MEDICARE, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The county reach of Colorado's 2027 D-SNPs varies widely. Some are limited to a handful of counties — Elevate Medicare Choice is listed in 4 counties, Kaiser Permanente Dual Complete Pueblo in 1 — while others cover large portions of the state. Humana's HumanaChoice SNP-DE H5216-267 is listed in 47 counties, and UHC Dual Complete CO-Q1 is listed in 64 counties. Because of that spread, the statewide total of 23 is not what any one reader will see; the county-level list in the Plan Finder is what matters when it comes time to enroll.

Readers should also have on hand the plan's Evidence of Coverage and provider and pharmacy directories, which spell out networks, drug lists and cost sharing that are not covered in this article.

Where can Coloradans get free help with Medicare and Medicaid questions for 2027?

Free help with Medicare questions in Colorado is available directly from the federal Medicare program. Medicare.gov hosts the official Plan Finder and plan documents, and 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) takes calls around the clock from people comparing plans or checking what applies in their county.

For the Medicaid side — including confirming dual-eligible status, which is required to enroll in a D-SNP — Coloradans can contact Health First Colorado, the state Medicaid agency. Social Security also handles Medicare enrollment and the Extra Help program that lowers Part D drug costs for people with limited income and resources.