Medicare Advantage

Port St. Lucie's 2027 Dual Special Needs Plans: who they're for and when you can switch

For 2027, Port St. Lucie is looking at 81 Medicare Advantage plans: 16 new, 26 gone since 2026, and 39 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 15 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in St. Lucie County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — If you have both Medicare and Florida Medicaid, your 2027 plan choices in St. Lucie County are coming into focus. For the plan year starting Jan. 1, 2027, 25 Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) are set to be offered in the county, from eight carriers — a mix of plans that are returning, newly launching, and renamed from 2026. The Annual Enrollment Period runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026, but dual-eligible residents have more chances to make a change than that one window.

What is a D-SNP, and who in Port St. Lucie qualifies?

A Dual Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. In Port St. Lucie — which sits in St. Lucie County — eligibility works the same way it does across Florida: you must be enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B and also qualify for Florida Medicaid at some level.

There are two broad groups:

• Full-benefit dual eligibles get full Florida Medicaid in addition to Medicare. Medicaid helps cover services Medicare does not, and typically pays Medicare cost-sharing.
• Partial-benefit dual eligibles qualify for a Medicare Savings Program (such as QMB, SLMB, or QI) that helps pay Medicare premiums and, in some categories, cost-sharing — but not full Medicaid benefits.

Some D-SNPs are built for the full-dual group, others for partial-dual members, and a few are "integrated" plans that coordinate Medicare and Medicaid benefits together. The plan you can actually enroll in depends on which category Florida's Medicaid agency has you in. If you are not sure, call Florida Medicaid or 1-800-MEDICARE before you shop.

How many D-SNPs are offered in St. Lucie County for 2027?

For 2027, 25 of the 81 Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage in St. Lucie County are D-SNPs. The county also has 17 Chronic Condition SNPs and 4 Institutional SNPs for people who meet those separate eligibility rules.

The eight carriers offering D-SNPs in the county next year are:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 2
• Centene (WellCare) — 4
• Devoted Health — 3
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — 4
• Florida Complete Care — 1
• Humana — 4
• Ultimate Health Plans — 2
• UnitedHealthcare — 5

The table below lists every D-SNP by carrier, plan type, and whether it includes drug coverage.

What's new or renamed in the 2027 D-SNP lineup?

Several D-SNPs are new to the county for 2027, 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) from Centene; DEVOTED DUAL FULL 098 FL (HMO D-SNP) from Devoted Health; Simply Complete Platinum (HMO D-SNP) and Simply Integrated Platinum (HMO D-SNP) from Elevance Health (Anthem); Florida Complete Care-Duals VIP (HMO-POS D-SNP); Humana Dual Integrated (PPO D-SNP); and UHC Dual Complete FL-Y5 (HMO-POS D-SNP) from UnitedHealthcare.

Others kept the plan but changed the name. For example, Aetna Medicare Partial Dual Select (HMO D-SNP) was Aetna Medicare Dual Select; Wellcare Sunshine Health Dual Reserve (HMO-POS D-SNP) was Wellcare Dual Reserve; DEVOTED DUAL QMB 052 FL was DEVOTED DUAL PLUS 052 FL; Humana's Dual Select H1036-226 and H7284-010 were previously branded as Humana Gold Plus SNP-DE and HumanaChoice Florida SNP-DE; and UnitedHealthcare renamed four of its UHC Dual Complete plans. A rename is not a benefit guarantee either way — the plan's Annual Notice of Change spells out what, if anything, is different for 2027.

How often can a dual-eligible person change plans?

People with Medicaid or Extra Help are not limited to the Oct. 15–Dec. 7 Annual Enrollment Period. There is a separate Special Enrollment Period that gives dual-eligible and Extra Help enrollees a chance, once per calendar quarter in the first three quarters of the year, to make certain changes. In addition, there is a monthly opportunity to join an integrated D-SNP or move to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D drug plan.

The exact rules on which switches are allowed in which months have been adjusted by CMS in recent years, so before you make a move, confirm the current rules with 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you lose Medicaid, you also get a Special Enrollment Period tied to that change.

How do I confirm my Medicaid eligibility in Florida?

Your D-SNP enrollment depends on what Florida Medicaid shows for you right now. To confirm or update your status:

• Contact the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), which handles Medicaid applications and renewals, through their ACCESS Florida system.
• Call 1-800-MEDICARE to see what level of help Medicare has on file for you (full Medicaid, QMB, SLMB, QI, or Extra Help for drug costs).
• Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov to see which D-SNPs you are eligible to join based on your ZIP code and dual status.

Keep your Medicaid renewal paperwork current. If your Medicaid ends, your D-SNP eligibility can end too, and you may have a limited window to pick a different kind of plan.

What 2027 Medicare figures are already set?

A few program-wide numbers are confirmed for 2027 and apply whether you join a D-SNP or any other Medicare drug plan:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium is $41.33 for 2027 — a formula input CMS uses, not what any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not yet been announced. CMS typically publishes them later in the fall. If you do nothing during the Annual Enrollment Period, your current plan renews for 2027 if it is still offered, with the changes described in its Annual Notice of Change.