Medicare Advantage

Atlanta Medicare checklist: what your ANOC tells you before Dec. 7

For 2027, Atlanta is looking at 90 Medicare Advantage plans: 9 new, 16 gone since 2026, and 29 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 9 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Fulton County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

ATLANTA — The envelope that arrived in your mailbox in late September is the single most important piece of paper in this year's Medicare decision. It is called the Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC, and it spells out exactly how your current Medicare Advantage or Part D plan will be different on January 1, 2027. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect the first of the year.

If you do nothing, your plan renews with the changes in that ANOC. That is why reading it — and comparing it against your doctors, your hospitals and your prescriptions — matters more than shopping for the sake of shopping.

Start with the ANOC

The ANOC is the "what's changing" letter. Insurers must send it by the end of September. Open it next to last year's version — or next to your Evidence of Coverage, the longer booklet that spells out how the plan actually works — and look for five things:

• The monthly premium for 2027.
• The deductible, if any, for medical and drug coverage.
• Copays or coinsurance for primary care, specialists, hospital stays, labs and imaging.
• The drug tier structure and whether any of your medications moved tiers.
• Any extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter, transportation) that are being added, trimmed or dropped.

If one of those lines looks different from what you are used to, flag it. That is the whole point of the ANOC.

Check your doctors and hospitals for 2027

Networks change every year. A doctor who is in-network in 2026 may not be in 2027, and the ANOC does not list providers.

Three ways to confirm:

• Use the plan's online provider directory, and make sure you are looking at the 2027 directory, not the current year.
• Call your doctor's billing office directly and ask whether they will accept your plan in 2027. Many practices know by November.
• Do the same for the hospital system you prefer. In metro Atlanta, that often means Emory, Piedmont, Northside, Grady or Wellstar — each contracts with insurers separately.

If you take a specialist referral seriously, check the specialist too.

Check your prescriptions

Drug formularies also reset every January. Pull out your current prescription bottles and run each one through the plan's 2027 formulary, or through the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Look for:

• Whether the drug is still covered.
• What tier it sits on (that affects your share of the cost).
• Any new restrictions like prior authorization, step therapy or quantity limits.
• Which pharmacies the plan calls "preferred" versus "standard."

Two Part D changes apply across the board in 2027: the annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs rises to $2,400 (from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum deductible a Part D plan can charge rises to $700 (from $615 in 2026). The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments, continues to be available on request.

Know what's on the shelf in Fulton County

Atlanta is in Fulton County, where Medicare Advantage availability is set. For 2026, Fulton County has 97 Medicare Advantage plans from 12 carriers — Aetna (CVS Health), Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), CareSource, Centene (WellCare), Clear Spring Health, Clover Health, Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Kaiser Permanente, PruittHealth Premier and UnitedHealthcare. By plan type, that breaks down to 32 HMOs, 15 HMO-POS plans, 49 PPOs and 1 PFFS, and 39 of the plans are Special Needs Plans built for people with specific conditions, dual Medicare-Medicaid eligibility or institutional care needs. Every plan on the 2026 roster includes drug coverage.

CMS releases the final 2027 roster each fall. The table below lists every plan available in the county for the plan year — use it as your shortlist, not a ranking.

What CMS has not yet announced

A few 2027 numbers are not public yet. CMS typically announces the standard Part B premium and deductible, along with the IRMAA income brackets that add surcharges for higher-income beneficiaries, in the fall — usually November. Until then, use 2026 figures as a placeholder only. For 2026, IRMAA surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer.

A simple timeline

• Now through early November: read your ANOC, list your doctors and drugs, pull up the Plan Finder.
• Mid-November: once CMS publishes the 2027 Part B premium and IRMAA brackets, factor them in.
• Through December 7, 2026: enroll, switch or stay. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
• January 1 – March 31, 2027: if you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan and want to switch once more, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period is your second chance.