Medicare Advantage

Columbus Medicare Advantage lineup for 2027: which plans are leaving, new or renamed

People in Columbus can choose from 76 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 85 this year. Eight of this year's plans are gone, 9 are new to Muscogee County, and 21 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 10 of them under a new name.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in Muscogee County, this fall's mail is worth opening carefully. When plans for 2027 are compared with 2026, eight plans are leaving the county, nine new plans are coming in, and ten are keeping the same bones but taking a new name. One carrier — Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC) — will not offer Medicare Advantage plans in the county next year, and a new carrier, PruittHealth Premier, is entering. The Annual Enrollment Period runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, and that is the window most people will use to react.

What's leaving Muscogee County after 2026

Eight plans that Columbus residents can be enrolled in this year will not be offered in 2027. They are:

• HealthSpring TotalCare (HMO D-SNP) — Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC)
• HealthSpring TotalCare Plus (HMO D-SNP) — Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC)
• HealthSpring True Choice (PPO) — Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC)
• Anthem Extra Help (HMO-POS) — Elevance Health (Anthem)
• Anthem Medicare Advantage (HMO-POS) — Elevance Health (Anthem)
• Anthem Medicare Advantage 2 (PPO) — Elevance Health (Anthem)
• Humana Gold Plus SNP-DE H4141-025 (HMO D-SNP) — Humana
• AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC GA-5 (HMO-POS) — UnitedHealthcare

Because Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC) is exiting Muscogee County next year, all three HealthSpring plans above are ending here. If you are in one of them, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice.

What's new for 2027

Nine new plans join the Muscogee County lineup for 2027, including the arrival of a new carrier, PruittHealth Premier:

• DEVOTED C-SNP CHOICE GIVEBACK EXTRAS 021 GA (PPO C-SNP) — Devoted Health
• DEVOTED CHOICE GIVEBACK EXTRAS 023 GA (PPO) — Devoted Health
• Anthem Medicare Advantage 2 (HMO-POS) — Elevance Health (Anthem)
• Humana Together in Health (PPO I-SNP) — Humana
• HumanaChoice H7617-114 (PPO) — Humana
• PruittHealth Premier (HMO I-SNP) — PruittHealth Premier
• PruittHealth Premier Advantage (HMO I-SNP) — PruittHealth Premier
• PruittHealth Premier D-SNP (HMO D-SNP) — PruittHealth Premier
• AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC GA-10 (HMO-POS) — UnitedHealthcare

The full lineup for the county appears in the table below, so you can compare side by side.

Ten plans are being renamed

A rename doesn't automatically mean the plan is different in the ways that matter to you — but it can be confusing when your ID card or mailings show a new label. Here are the renames for 2027 in Muscogee County:

• Aetna Medicare Eagle Extra Plus (PPO) — was Aetna Medicare Eagle Plus (PPO)
• Wellcare Peach State Health Plan Dual Access (HMO-POS D-SNP) — was Wellcare Dual Access (HMO-POS D-SNP)
• Wellcare Peach State Health Plan Dual Access Open (PPO D-SNP) — was Wellcare Dual Access Open (PPO D-SNP)
• Wellcare Peach State Health Plan Dual Liberty (HMO-POS D-SNP) — was Wellcare Dual Liberty (HMO-POS D-SNP)
• Wellcare Peach State Health Plan Dual Reserve (HMO-POS D-SNP) — was Wellcare Dual Reserve (HMO-POS D-SNP)
• Clover Health LiveHealthy Premier (PPO) — was Clover Health LiveHealthy Value (PPO)
• DEVOTED C-SNP CHOICE ENHANCED 018 GA (PPO C-SNP) — was DEVOTED C-SNP CHOICE PREMIUM 018 GA (PPO C-SNP)
• UHC Dual Advantage GA-V1 (PPO D-SNP) — was UHC Dual Complete GA-V1 (PPO D-SNP)
• UHC Dual Complete GA-Q2 (PPO D-SNP) — was UHC Dual Complete GA-S1 (PPO D-SNP)
• UHC Dual Complete GA-Q3 (HMO-POS D-SNP) — was UHC Dual Complete GA-D2 (HMO-POS D-SNP)

What if the plan is "continuing" — is it really the same?

Columbus is in Muscogee County, where 67 plans are continuing into 2027. But 21 of them show a change in CMS's landscape file on at least one of these items: premium, deductible, plan type or name. That's why the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) you should have received in September is worth ten minutes of your time. It spells out exactly what is changing on your specific plan for next year — including anything about your drug coverage.

Program-wide for 2027, the Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D deductible cannot be more than $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The old "donut hole" is gone (drug coverage now has three phases), and there is an optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan that lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly amounts. These are program rules, not plan features, so they apply no matter which plan you're in.

What to do — and by when

• If your plan is on the "leaving" list. You will get a non-renewal letter from your carrier. That triggers a Special Enrollment Period that runs through the end of February, so you have time past Dec. 7 to pick a new Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan. You don't have to wait for the SEP, though — you can also switch during the Annual Enrollment Period, Oct. 15 through Dec. 7.
• If your plan is being renamed. You generally don't have to do anything to stay enrolled, but read the ANOC to confirm nothing else changed that affects you.
• If your plan is continuing. Still read the ANOC. About one in three continuing plans in the county shows some kind of change in the CMS file for 2027.
• If you want to switch after Jan. 1. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs Jan. 1 through March 31 and lets an MA enrollee make one change.

Where to get personal help

For personalized answers — including checking whether your doctor, hospital or prescription is covered on a specific plan — use the Plan Finder at medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE (available 24/7), or reach Georgia's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), called GeorgiaCares, for free one-on-one counseling. SHIP counselors don't sell plans.