Medicare Advantage

Aetna's Medicare Advantage plans in Chicago for 2027: what's new, what's not returning

Chicago, fall 2026 — Aetna's 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup for Cook County is now set, and if you live in Chicago and either carry an Aetna plan today or are weighing one for next year, this is the window to look it over. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer site — we are not Aetna, and we are not Medicare. This article focuses on one carrier because readers asked us to lay out its full Chicago-area roster in one place. Aetna is one of 12 carriers offering Medicare Advantage in Cook County next year (67 plans in total across all carriers, per the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape).

What Aetna is offering in Cook County for 2027

Chicago sits inside Cook County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. For plan year 2027, Aetna (which CMS lists under the parent name Aetna (CVS Health)) has 9 Medicare Advantage plans available in Cook County:

• 3 HMO plans
• 2 HMO-POS plans
• 4 PPO plans
• All 9 include Part D prescription drug coverage
• 2 are Special Needs Plans (1 D-SNP for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, 1 C-SNP for people with certain chronic conditions)

The table below lists every Aetna plan available in Cook County for 2027, with plan type and whether drug coverage is included. We do not list premiums, copays, networks or star ratings here — those are plan-by-plan details that belong on Medicare's Plan Finder or in each plan's own Evidence of Coverage.

What's new, what's not returning

For 2027, Aetna has 1 new plan in Cook County — Aetna Medicare Prime Extra Care (HMO) — and 1 plan from 2026 is not returning. There are no plan renames in this county for 2027.

If you are currently in an Aetna plan, the single most important piece of mail to open this fall is your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). It arrives by late September and spells out exactly what is changing on your specific plan for January — the premium, the deductible, the drug tiers, the provider network, the extras. The ANOC is the only document that tells you, in writing, what your plan will look like next year.

The Special Needs Plans in the lineup

Three of Aetna's 2027 plans in Cook County are Special Needs Plans, designed for people in specific situations:

• Aetna Medicare FIDE (HMO D-SNP) — a Fully Integrated Dual Eligible plan for people enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid.
• Aetna Medicare Prime Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP) — a Chronic Condition SNP.
• Aetna Medicare Prime Chronic Total (HMO C-SNP) — a Chronic Condition SNP.

Special Needs Plans have eligibility rules. If you think one may apply to you, confirm you qualify before enrolling; Medicare's helpline or the plan itself can walk you through it.

How to check a plan against your doctors and prescriptions

Before December 7, do a short, concrete check for each plan you are considering:

1. Make a list. Write down the doctors, specialists and hospitals you want to keep using, and every prescription you take (name, dose, how often). 2. Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare. Enter your ZIP code and your drug list. Plan Finder will show you each plan's estimated yearly drug cost, which pharmacies are preferred, and whether your drugs are on its formulary. 3. Check the provider directory. Call your doctor's office directly and ask whether they are in-network for the specific Aetna plan you're looking at for 2027 — not just "Aetna" in general. Plan networks differ. 4. Read the Summary of Benefits for any plan you're serious about. It is a short document; it covers the basics of what the plan pays for. 5. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), open 24/7, if you want to talk a decision through with someone who does not sell plans.

A few 2027 program facts worth knowing

These apply to Part D drug coverage regardless of which plan you pick:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs hits that cap, you pay $0 for covered drugs for the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. Plans can set their deductible lower, but not higher.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available — it lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• CMS has not yet released the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible or the 2027 IRMAA income brackets. Those usually come out in November; check medicare.gov for the official figures.

If you do nothing

Nothing happens automatically — in a bad sense. If your current Aetna plan is being offered again in 2027, you stay in it, with whatever changes the ANOC describes. If your plan is one of the ones not returning, Aetna and Medicare will send you written notice, and you will have a special period to pick a new plan. The important thing is to read the mail that arrives this fall.