Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in Georgia Medicare Advantage for 2027: 22 Plans Leaving, 36 Changing

ATLANTA — Georgia's Medicare Advantage menu is shifting for the 2027 plan year. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files, the state will have 161 Medicare Advantage plans available in 2027, down from 166 in 2026. Behind that small net change is a lot of movement: 22 plans leaving, 36 changing in at least one county, 17 new plans arriving, and 108 continuing unchanged. Every one of Georgia's 159 counties will see at least one plan either leave or change.

Medicare AdvantageGeorgia

Here is what the two CMS Landscape files say, and what Georgians should do between now and December 7, 2026.

What the statewide numbers mean

CMS publishes a Landscape Source File each year listing every Medicare Advantage plan offered in every county. Comparing the 2026 file to the 2027 file produces a clean year-over-year picture, with each plan counted once statewide no matter how many counties it serves.

For Georgia, the 2026 file lists 166 Medicare Advantage plans. The 2027 file lists 161. In CMS's accounting, a plan is "leaving" if it was offered somewhere in Georgia for 2026 and is offered nowhere in Georgia for 2027 — 22 plans fit that description. A plan is "changing" if it is offered in both years but differs on premium, drug deductible, plan type or plan name in at least one county — 36 plans fit that description. Another 17 plans are new for 2027, and 108 are continuing unchanged.

Two carriers are listed in the 2026 file but have no Georgia Medicare Advantage plans in the 2027 file: CareSource and Clear Spring Health.

If your plan is leaving

If your 2026 plan is one of the 22 not returning anywhere in Georgia, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice. You will qualify for a Special Enrollment Period that runs through the end of February, giving you time beyond the Annual Enrollment Period to pick another Medicare Advantage plan or move to Original Medicare with or without a stand-alone Part D plan.

If you do nothing, you cannot stay — your plan will not exist on January 1, 2027. That is the single biggest reason to open any mail from your current carrier this fall and to read it carefully.

If your plan is changing

If your 2026 plan is one of the 36 that CMS flags as changing in at least one county, it will still be available in 2027, but something about it is different in the CMS file — a premium, a drug deductible, a plan type or the plan name. The specifics live in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) that your carrier mails each September.

The ANOC is the document that spells out exactly what is different between your 2026 coverage and your 2027 coverage. If you do nothing, you will stay enrolled in the renewing plan with the changes described in that ANOC. That is a legitimate choice — but it should be an informed one, which means actually reading the ANOC before December 7.

Counties with the most change

Every one of Georgia's 159 counties sees at least one plan leave or change. Among the counties called out in the CMS comparison:

• Cherokee County: 19 leaving, 21 changing
• Clayton County: 19 leaving, 21 changing
• Cobb County: 21 leaving, 19 changing
• Rockdale County: 20 leaving, 20 changing
• Coweta County: 21 leaving, 18 changing
• Fayette County: 20 leaving, 19 changing
• Bryan County: 15 leaving, 22 changing
• Chatham County: 14 leaving, 23 changing

If you live in one of these counties, the odds that your specific plan is affected are higher than average, and it is worth checking your mail and the Plan Finder tool at Medicare.gov as soon as the 2027 data posts.

What to do before December 7

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 – December 7, 2026. A choice made during that window takes effect January 1, 2027. A short checklist for Georgia members:

1. Watch for two pieces of mail from your current carrier: the ANOC (if your plan is renewing) or a non-renewal notice (if your plan is leaving). 2. Compare your 2026 coverage to what the ANOC describes for 2027 — doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and the drugs you actually take. 3. If your plan is not renewing, remember you have the Special Enrollment Period through the end of February in addition to the Annual Enrollment Period. 4. Make any change by December 7, 2026 so your new coverage starts January 1, 2027.

Doing nothing is a decision too. If your plan is renewing, you keep it with the changes in the ANOC. If your plan is leaving, doing nothing leaves you without Medicare Advantage coverage on January 1 — the Special Enrollment Period exists to prevent that, but you still have to use it.

Where to get free help

You do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not have to pay anyone to help you.

• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder with every 2027 plan in your ZIP code.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is staffed 24/7.
• Georgia's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known locally as GeorgiaCares, offers free one-on-one counseling from trained volunteers who do not sell insurance.