Medicare Advantage

Before you pick a Medicare Advantage plan in Chicago: how the 2026 carriers and plan types compare

For 2027, Chicago is looking at 58 Medicare Advantage plans: 6 new, 17 gone since 2026, and 21 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 9 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Cook County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

Medicare AdvantageChicago, IL

CHICAGO — If you are shopping for Medicare Advantage coverage here for 2027, the first thing to understand is not the number of plans. It is the shape of the market: which insurers are selling plans, and what kind of plans they are. Once you know that, comparing them gets a lot easier.

Chicago sits in Cook County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. In Cook County, 11 carriers are offering Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage for 2027, in a mix of HMO, HMO-POS, PPO and PFFS designs, along with a group of Special Needs Plans built for specific situations. The full roster is in the table below.

Who is selling Medicare Advantage in Cook County

Eleven carriers are offering Medicare Advantage plans in the county for 2027. Compared with 2026, Clear Spring Health is not offering plans in Cook County next year. Across the returning carriers, 52 plans continue from 2026, 6 are new, 17 are not returning, and 9 have been renamed; 21 of the continuing plans change something in their terms, and those changes are spelled out in each plan's Annual Notice of Change.

A bigger plan count from one carrier is not a quality signal — it usually means the insurer is slicing its offerings into more variations. The table below lists every plan by carrier so you can see the full lineup.

HMO, HMO-POS, PPO and PFFS: what those letters mean

The plan "type" tells you how the network works, and that is often the single most important thing to understand before you enroll.

• HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). You pick a primary care doctor and generally must use the plan's network of doctors and hospitals. Out-of-network care is usually only covered in an emergency. Referrals are often required to see a specialist.
• HMO-POS (HMO with a Point-of-Service option). Works like an HMO, but the plan allows some services to be received out of network, usually at a higher cost share. There are 12 HMO-POS plans in the county.
• PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). You can see any Medicare provider that accepts the plan, in or out of network, though out-of-network care generally costs more. Referrals are usually not required. There are 29 PPO plans in the county, including a few "Regional PPO" plans that use a larger service area.
• PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service). You can see any Medicare provider willing to accept the plan's terms of payment for that visit.

Every one of the 78 Medicare Advantage plans in Cook County includes prescription drug coverage, so you would not add a stand-alone Part D plan on top.

Special Needs Plans, and who they are for

Twenty of the 78 plans in Cook County are Special Needs Plans (SNPs). These are Medicare Advantage plans built for a specific group of people, and you have to meet the eligibility rules to enroll.

• D-SNP (Dual Eligible SNP) is for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. Examples in the county include Aetna Medicare FIDE (HMO D-SNP), Wellcare Meridian Dual Align (HMO D-SNP), Humana Dual Fully Integrated (HMO D-SNP) and Molina Medicare Complete Care Plus (HMO D-SNP).
• C-SNP (Chronic Condition SNP) is for people with certain qualifying chronic conditions, most often diabetes and cardiovascular disease. You will see this reflected in plan names such as Aetna Medicare Prime Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP), Clear Spring Health Balance+ Diabetes & Heart (HMO C-SNP), Humana Community HMO Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP), several Zing Elite and Zing Select plans, UHC Complete Care Support IL-1A (PPO C-SNP), and UHC Complete Care Support IL-7 (HMO-POS C-SNP).
• I-SNP (Institutional SNP) is for people who live in a nursing home or a similar long-term care setting, or who need that level of care at home. Examples include Longevity Health Plan (HMO I-SNP), Provider Partners Illinois Advantage Plan (HMO I-SNP) and UHC Nursing Home Plan IL-F001 (PPO I-SNP).

If you do not meet the eligibility rules for a SNP, it is not an option for you, even if the name looks appealing.

How to narrow the list without getting overwhelmed

Seventy-eight is a lot. Two shortcuts help:

1. Start with plan type, not carrier. If you want to keep seeing a specific doctor or hospital, ask them which networks they are in and whether they accept a given plan for 2027. That usually knocks the list down quickly. If flexibility to go out of network matters, you are probably looking at a PPO. If you are comfortable staying in network and want a primary care doctor coordinating your care, an HMO or HMO-POS may fit. 2. Check your drug list. Every Cook County MA plan includes Part D. Plans differ in which drugs they cover and how. On medicare.gov, you can enter your prescriptions and see the covered-drug list for each plan.

A couple of program-level facts worth knowing: the Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027; the maximum Part D deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027; the old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone; and the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter. CMS publishes the 2027 Part B premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA brackets, later this fall.

Dates to keep in mind

• Annual Enrollment Period: Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, 2026. This is when most people compare and switch plans for 2027.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: Jan. 1 – March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance in this window to switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare.
• IRMAA (the income-related surcharge on Part B and Part D) begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.