Medicare Advantage

How Stuart's Medicare plan count compares with nearby Florida counties

If you live in Stuart and you're weighing your Medicare choices for 2027, it helps to zoom out. Plan availability is decided at the county level, not the city level, so where you sit on the Treasure Coast shapes your menu. Stuart is in Martin County, where 80 Medicare Advantage plans were available for 2026, offered by 11 carriers that sell Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD); the 2027 lineup is in each plan's Annual Notice of Change and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

That number lands in the middle of a familiar Florida pattern: bigger, denser counties tend to carry more plans, while smaller or more rural ones carry fewer. Knowing that helps you make sense of what you see on Medicare's Plan Finder — and why a friend one county over might be looking at a very different list.

Why the county line matters

Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are approved and priced by service area, and in Florida that service area is the county. That's why "how many plans are near me" isn't really a Stuart question — it's a Martin County question. Move a few miles and the answer can change.

For Stuart residents, the working number for 2026 was 80 Medicare Advantage plans available in Martin County, with 11 carriers offering MA-PD coverage; the 2027 counts appear in each plan's ANOC and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. Stand-alone Part D plans are counted separately by CMS; in this area's 2026 data, none were listed at the stand-alone level, which means most drug coverage locally is bundled inside Medicare Advantage plans. If you stay on Original Medicare and want drug coverage, you'll still find stand-alone Part D options through Medicare's Plan Finder — they're just counted differently than MA-PD plans.

How to read plan counts without getting overwhelmed

A big number like 80 can feel like a lot, and honestly, it is. But you don't have to compare all of them. Most people can narrow the field quickly by answering a few questions:

• Do your doctors and preferred hospitals take the plan?
• Are your prescriptions on the plan's formulary, and at what tier?
• Do you travel, and do you need out-of-area coverage?
• Are you comfortable with HMO referral rules, or do you want PPO flexibility?

Once you filter for those, the list usually shrinks to a handful worth a closer look.

Star Ratings, in plain English

CMS publishes Star Ratings (1 to 5) each year to measure plan quality on things like customer service, care coordination, and member complaints. In Martin County's 2026 data, no contracts were rated 4 stars or higher. That doesn't mean plans are unusable — it means quality scores in this area sat lower than some other markets that year. Ratings can shift year to year, and they're one input among many, not a verdict.

What's changing program-wide in 2027

Even if your plan looks familiar, the rules around Part D keep evolving:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 for 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap has been eliminated as of 2025, leaving three simpler phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs over the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges for higher-income beneficiaries begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

These apply nationwide, so they're the same in Stuart as they are anywhere else in Florida.

Deadlines to keep on the fridge

• October 15 – December 7: Annual Enrollment Period. This is when most people compare Medicare Advantage and Part D plans and make changes for the following year.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare (and add a Part D plan).

With 52,205 residents age 65 and over in Martin County, plenty of your neighbors are working through the same calendar.

How to decide, step by step

1. Start with your doctors and drugs. Enter them into Medicare's Plan Finder at medicare.gov. This alone eliminates most plans that don't fit. 2. Look at total cost, not just premium. Premium, deductible, copays, and drug costs together tell the real story. 3. Check the network rules. HMO, PPO, and special needs plans work differently. 4. Ask for help. Florida's SHINE program (Florida's SHIP) offers free, unbiased Medicare counseling.