Medicare Advantage

By December 7: How to Weigh 87 Jacksonville Plans

Duval County has 87 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 18 plans are not coming back, 15 are new, and 48 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 17 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Jacksonville, not which plan to pick.

Jacksonville, Fla. — Fall 2026. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in Jacksonville, your mailbox has probably already filled up with glossy ads and a thicker envelope from your current insurer. That thicker one — the Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC — is the piece that actually matters this fall, because the Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 coverage runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any switch you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

Jacksonville is in Duval County, where the 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup is set and loaded into the Medicare Plan Finder. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape file, Duval County will have 87 Medicare Advantage plans from 13 carriers for 2027, down from 90 plans this year. 15 plans are new for 2027 and 18 are not returning, so even if you plan to stay put, it is worth a careful look.

Here is a plain-language way to compare what is on the table before December 7.

What the 2027 Jacksonville lineup looks like

In Duval County for 2027, the 87 Medicare Advantage plans break down by type as 46 HMO, 15 HMO-POS and 26 PPO plans. All 87 include prescription drug coverage.

A big share of the lineup is Special Needs Plans (SNPs), which are built for people with specific situations: 24 Dual-Eligible SNPs (D-SNPs) for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, 14 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) for people with qualifying conditions like diabetes, heart disease or chronic kidney disease, and 7 Institutional SNPs (I-SNPs) for people who live in a nursing home or need that level of care. You generally need to qualify to enroll in an SNP.

The 13 carriers offering plans in Duval County for 2027, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health), Align Senior Care, American Health Advantage of Florida, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Florida Blue, Florida Blue HMO, Florida Complete Care, Gold Kidney Health Plan, Humana, Longevity Health Plan, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

What's new this year

A few things are worth knowing before you start comparing:

• New carrier presence. Align Senior Care appears in Duval County for 2027 with 2 HMO plans; it was not in the county's 2026 lineup.
• New plans across returning carriers. 15 plans are new for 2027. Devoted Health goes from 9 plans to 10. Gold Kidney Health Plan goes from 4 plans to 5. UnitedHealthcare goes from 13 plans to 14.
• Plans not returning. 18 plans will not be offered in Duval County in 2027. If you are in one of those, your insurer must notify you, and you will have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan.
• Part D rules change again. For 2027, the annual out-of-pocket cap for Part D drug costs is $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum Part D deductible is $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The coverage gap (donut hole) is gone, replaced by a three-phase design. The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan still lets you spread drug costs across the year in level monthly payments.
• Still to come from CMS. The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets have not been announced yet; CMS typically releases them in November.

A six-step way to compare plans before December 7

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC)

If you already have a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, your insurer mailed you an ANOC by late September. It spells out, in one document, what will be different about your plan on January 1, 2027: premium, deductible, copays, drug list (formulary), pharmacy network, provider network and extra benefits. If nothing in the ANOC bothers you, doing nothing is a valid choice — your plan renews automatically.

2. List your doctors and hospitals

Before you look at any plan, write down the providers you want to keep: your primary care doctor, any specialists you see regularly, and the Jacksonville-area hospitals you prefer (for many readers that is UF Health Jacksonville, Baptist Health, Ascension St. Vincent's, Mayo Clinic or HCA Florida facilities). Then check each plan's provider directory — on the insurer's website or by calling the plan — to confirm each one is in network for 2027. Networks change every year, even when the plan name stays the same.

3. List your prescriptions

Write down every drug you take, with the dose and how often. In the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, you can enter that list once and see how each plan would cover it — which tier each drug is on, whether there is prior authorization or step therapy, and your estimated yearly cost. Two plans with similar premiums can have very different drug costs for the same person.

4. Check your pharmacies

Medicare Advantage and Part D plans have preferred pharmacies where your copays are typically lower, and standard pharmacies where they are higher. Some plans also use mail-order. Confirm that the pharmacy you actually use — whether that's a neighborhood independent, a Publix, Winn-Dixie, Walgreens, CVS or Walmart — is in the plan's preferred network for 2027.

5. Match the plan type to how you want care

• HMO plans generally require you to use in-network providers and get referrals to see specialists. Duval County has 46 HMO plans for 2027.
• HMO-POS plans are HMOs with a limited "point of service" option to go out of network for certain services. There are 15 for 2027.
• PPO plans let you see out-of-network providers, usually at a higher cost, without a referral. There are 26 for 2027.
• SNPs are HMOs or PPOs built around a specific group (dual-eligible, chronic condition or institutional). You must qualify to enroll.

6. Compare side by side in the Medicare Plan Finder

The official Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare is the only place that pulls every 2027 plan available at your ZIP code, with your drug list, into one view. You can pin up to three plans and compare premiums, deductibles, drug costs, star ratings, maximum out-of-pocket amounts and extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, transportation, OTC allowance) in one screen. If you prefer the phone, 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) is open 24/7.

If you do nothing

Your current plan renews on January 1, 2027, with the changes in your ANOC — unless your plan is one of the 18 not returning in Duval County, in which case your insurer will send a non-renewal letter and you will qualify for a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan. You can still make one switch between Medicare Advantage plans (or back to Original Medicare) during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027.