Medicare Advantage

Medicare and Medicaid in Orlando: a guide to the 35 D-SNPs offered for 2027

People in Orlando can choose from 106 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 123 this year. 33 of this year’s plans are gone, 16 are new to Orange County, and 46 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 16 of them under a new name.

ORLANDO, Fall 2026 — If you have both Medicare and Medicaid, this year's enrollment season brings a bigger menu of Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) in the Orlando area than last year. For 2027, Orange County — the county Orlando sits in — will have 35 D-SNPs from 12 carriers, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for plan year 2027. Several are new, several have been renamed, and the rules for who can join (and when) are worth a careful read before the December 7, 2026 deadline.

This article walks through what a D-SNP is, who qualifies, how often a dual-eligible person can change plans, and how to confirm your eligibility. The full plan-by-plan table is on this page; we will point to carriers and plan names where it helps, without comparing costs or benefits.

What a D-SNP is, in plain English

A Dual Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. Like other Medicare Advantage plans, D-SNPs bundle hospital (Part A), medical (Part B) and usually prescription drug (Part D) coverage. What makes them different is that they are designed to coordinate with your Medicaid benefits — the two programs working together instead of in separate lanes.

Every D-SNP available in Orange County for 2027 includes drug coverage. Most are HMO or HMO-POS plans; a smaller number are PPO or regional PPO plans.

Who qualifies: full vs. partial dual eligibility

To join a D-SNP you must be enrolled in Medicare (Parts A and B) and also qualify for some level of help from Florida Medicaid. There are two broad categories:

• Full dual eligibility. You get full Medicaid benefits in addition to Medicare. Medicaid may help with long-term services and supports and other benefits Medicare does not cover.
• Partial dual eligibility. You qualify for a Medicare Savings Program — most commonly the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program, which helps pay Medicare premiums and cost sharing — but you do not get full Medicaid benefits.

Some D-SNPs are built for people with full Medicaid; others are built for partial-dual members such as QMB. You can see this reflected in the plan names on the table — for example, Aetna offers both Aetna Medicare Full Dual Select (HMO D-SNP) and Aetna Medicare Partial Dual Select (HMO D-SNP), and Ultimate Health Plans offers Advantage Plus by Ultimate (Full) (HMO D-SNP) and Advantage Plus by Ultimate (Partial) (HMO D-SNP). Matching the plan to your Medicaid category matters.

Your Medicaid status is confirmed by the state — in Florida, the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration. The plan verifies this before enrolling you.

The 2027 D-SNP lineup in Orange County

For 2027, the following carriers will offer D-SNPs in Orange County (number of D-SNPs in parentheses):

• Aetna (CVS Health) (2)
• AmeriHealth Caritas VIP Care (HMO-D-SNP) (1)
• Centene (WellCare) (4)
• Devoted Health (3)
• Doctors HealthCare Plans, Inc. (2)
• Elevance Health (Anthem) (4)
• Florida Complete Care (1)
• HealthSpring (2)
• Humana (8)
• Solis Health Plans (1)
• Ultimate Health Plans (2)
• UnitedHealthcare (5)

A few things to notice when you compare the table to last year's: AmeriHealth Caritas VIP Care (HMO D-SNP) is new to the area for 2027, as are several Centene (WellCare) D-SNPs — including Wellcare Sunshine Health Dual Access (HMO-POS D-SNP), Wellcare Sunshine Health Dual Align (HMO D-SNP) and Wellcare Sunshine Health Dual Align Unity (HMO D-SNP). Elevance Health (Anthem) is adding Simply Complete Platinum (HMO D-SNP) and Simply Integrated Platinum (HMO D-SNP). Doctors HealthCare Plans is adding DrPartialDual-CFL (HMO D-SNP). Humana is adding Humana Dual Integrated (PPO D-SNP), and UnitedHealthcare is adding UHC Dual Complete FL-Y5 (HMO-POS D-SNP).

Several plans have been renamed — for example, Humana's Humana Dual Select H1036-213 (HMO D-SNP) was previously called Humana Gold Plus SNP-DE H1036-213 (HMO D-SNP). The plan itself did not disappear; the label changed. Your plan's Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), mailed in the fall, spells out any changes to your specific plan for 2027.

How often a dual-eligible person can change plans

Everyone has the Annual Enrollment Period from October 15 to December 7, 2026 for coverage starting January 1, 2027. People with Medicare Advantage also have the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 to March 31.

But if you have Medicaid or qualify for Extra Help with drug costs, you generally get additional chances to change plans during the year. In broad terms, dual-eligible members can use a Special Enrollment Period once per calendar quarter in the first three quarters of the year to enroll in an integrated D-SNP or return to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan. The rules have been tightening over the past couple of years, so confirm the current rules with 1-800-MEDICARE before you act.

One thing stays simple: if you do nothing, your current plan renews for 2027 if it is still offered, with whatever changes the ANOC describes.

How to confirm your eligibility and your options

A few quick steps before you choose:

1. Confirm your Medicaid status. Call the Florida Department of Children and Families or check your ACCESS Florida account. You need to know whether you have full Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program such as QMB. 2. Check your prescriptions and your doctors. Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov to see which 2027 plans cover your drugs and include your providers. 3. Read the ANOC your current plan sent you. Look for anything that is changing in 2027, including whether the plan name is different. 4. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) if anything is unclear. The call is free and available 24/7.

Program figures to keep in mind for 2027

A couple of national Part D numbers are already published for 2027: the out-of-pocket cap on covered Part D drugs is $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum Part D deductible a plan may charge is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). CMS typically announces the 2027 Part B standard premium, deductible and IRMAA income brackets later in the fall.