Medicare Advantage

Columbus, Georgia Medicare Advantage 2027: the full plan list by carrier

People in Columbus can choose from 86 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 85 this year. Eight of this year’s plans are gone, 9 are new to Muscogee County, and 31 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 10 of them under a new name.

Medicare AdvantageColumbus, GA

Columbus, Ga. — If you're shopping Medicare Advantage in Columbus this fall, the menu is long. Columbus sits in Muscogee County, where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lists 76 Medicare Advantage plans available for the 2027 plan year, spread across nine carriers. Every one of those plans includes prescription drug coverage. The table below lists every plan by carrier, with its plan type and drug-coverage status, so you can see the full lineup in one place before you start comparing.

What's on offer in Muscogee County

The nine carriers selling Medicare Advantage in the county for 2027 are Aetna (CVS Health), Centene (WellCare), Clover Health, Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Georgia Health Advantage, Humana, PruittHealth Premier and UnitedHealthcare. Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC) is not offering plans in the county for 2027, and PruittHealth Premier is new to the county for 2027.

By plan type, the 85 plans break down as 54 PPOs, 16 HMOs, 14 HMO-POS plans, and 1 PFFS plan. Thirty-five of the 85 are Special Needs Plans, meaning they're limited to people who meet specific eligibility rules — most commonly having both Medicare and Medicaid (D-SNP), living with certain chronic conditions (C-SNP), or living in an institutional setting (I-SNP).

Every plan on the Muscogee County list includes prescription drug coverage built in. That matters because there are 0 stand-alone Part D drug plans listed in the county's MA-PD landscape for 2027 — if you enroll in Medicare Advantage here, drug coverage is packaged with the plan.

How the plan types differ

The letters after each plan name tell you a lot about how it works:

• HMO plans usually ask you to use an in-network provider and get a referral to see specialists.
• HMO-POS ("point of service") is an HMO that lets you go out of network for certain services, usually at a higher cost.
• PPO plans let you see out-of-network providers, generally for a higher share of the cost, and typically don't require referrals.
• PFFS ("private fee-for-service") plans set their own payment terms with providers; you can see any Medicare provider who agrees to the plan's terms.
• SNP (D-SNP, C-SNP, I-SNP) plans are only for people who meet the special eligibility category.

Neither plan type is automatically better — it depends on your doctors, your prescriptions and how you like to get care.

How to read the table below

The table below lists every 2027 Medicare Advantage plan available in Muscogee County, grouped by carrier and shown with its plan type and drug-coverage status. Of the plans on the 2027 list, 67 are continuing from 2026, 9 are new, and 10 have been renamed; 8 plans offered in 2026 are not returning. Among continuing plans, 21 change something in their terms for 2027 — those changes are spelled out in each plan's Annual Notice of Change.

You'll notice some plan names appear more than once — for example, three Humana USAA Honor Giveback (PPO) entries, or two Aetna Medicare Eagle Plus (PPO) entries. That's normal: CMS treats each unique plan ID as its own plan even if the marketing name is the same, because benefits or service areas can differ. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov will show the specific version available at your ZIP code.

What the roster does not tell you

The CMS MA Landscape Source File tells you which plans are offered in a county and what type they are. It does not tell you:

• what a plan costs you in premium, deductible or copays,
• which doctors, hospitals or pharmacies are in the network,
• which drugs are on the formulary and at what tier,
• what extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, OTC, transportation) are included, or
• the plan's current star rating.

For all of that, use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), or read the plan's Summary of Benefits and Evidence of Coverage. Georgia's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), called GeorgiaCares, offers free one-on-one counseling — call 1-866-552-4464.

A few 2027 program facts worth knowing

Whichever plan you look at, these program-wide rules apply for 2027:

• Part D has a $2,100 out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs in 2026.
• The Part D deductible can be no higher than $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027).
• The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug out-of-pocket costs across the calendar year in monthly payments, at no extra charge.
• IRMAA income-based surcharges for Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 for single filers in 2026.

When you can enroll

Two windows matter for most Columbus residents:

• Annual Enrollment Period: Oct. 15 – Dec. 7. You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. Changes take effect Jan. 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: Jan. 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to a different MA plan once, or drop back to Original Medicare (and add a stand-alone Part D plan).

You may also qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you move, lose other coverage, or become eligible for Medicaid or Extra Help.