Medicare Advantage

Medicare and Medicaid in Illinois: 4 Dual Special Needs Plans for 2027

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — For Illinoisans who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid, the 2027 plan year brings a familiar lineup of coordinated coverage options. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for CY2027, Illinois will have 4 Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) available somewhere in the state, out of 139 Medicare Advantage plans offered statewide. They sit alongside 23 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) and 3 Institutional SNPs (I-SNPs).

The four D-SNPs come from four carriers: Aetna (CVS Health), Centene (WellCare), Humana, and Molina Healthcare of Illinois. Each carrier offers one D-SNP, and each is listed as available in 102 Illinois counties. The point of this article is to explain what a D-SNP is, who qualifies, when you can change plans, and how to confirm what's actually offered where you live.

What a D-SNP is and who qualifies

A Dual Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built specifically for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. All four of Illinois' 2027 D-SNPs are HMO D-SNPs and include drug coverage. These plans coordinate Medicare benefits (hospital, doctor, and in these cases prescription drug coverage) with the Medicaid benefits the state provides, so members don't have to piece the two programs together on their own.

Eligibility has two parts. First, you must be entitled to Medicare Part A and enrolled in Part B. Second, you must qualify for Medicaid in Illinois — either as a "full" dual eligible (receiving the full scope of Medicaid benefits) or as a "partial" dual eligible (receiving help with Medicare premiums or cost sharing through a Medicare Savings Program). The Illinois Medicaid agency — the Department of Healthcare and Family Services — is the office that confirms your Medicaid category. A D-SNP will verify that status before enrollment, and will check it periodically to make sure you still qualify.

If you lose Medicaid eligibility, D-SNPs typically allow a grace period while you work with the state to restore coverage. If it isn't restored in that window, you may be moved out of the plan. This is one more reason to keep your Medicaid renewal paperwork current with the state.

The statewide count and the carriers offering them

For 2027, CMS lists 4 D-SNPs in Illinois: Aetna Medicare FIDE (HMO D-SNP) from Aetna (CVS Health); Wellcare Meridian Dual Align (HMO D-SNP) from Centene (WellCare); Humana Dual Fully Integrated (HMO D-SNP) from Humana; and Molina Medicare Complete Care Plus (HMO D-SNP) from Molina Healthcare of Illinois. The full plan-by-plan details, including the counties each one serves, are shown in the tables elsewhere on this page.

A few things worth noting about this list. All four plans are categorized as HMO D-SNPs that include Part D drug coverage. Each is marked as offered in 102 Illinois counties, but "offered somewhere in the state" is not the same as "offered in your county." Illinois has 102 counties total, and county-level service areas can differ from the statewide total in any given year, so your personal choices depend on your ZIP code.

This article does not compare premiums, cost sharing, provider networks, drug lists, extra benefits, or star ratings for any of these plans. Those details live in each plan's Evidence of Coverage and in the Medicare Plan Finder, and they can change from year to year.

How often a dual-eligible person can change plans

Most people with Medicare use the Annual Enrollment Period — October 15 through December 7, 2026 — to pick or switch a plan for 2027. Choices made during that window take effect January 1, 2027.

Dual-eligible members typically have more flexibility. Under current Medicare rules, people who have both Medicare and Medicaid generally qualify for a Special Enrollment Period that lets them make a change once per calendar quarter during the first three quarters of the year (January–March, April–June, and July–September). In the fourth quarter, changes are made through the regular Annual Enrollment Period. There is also a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31 for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan.

Exact Special Enrollment Period rules can be confirmed on medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.

Checking a plan in your county

The simplest way to see which of the four D-SNPs are actually offered where you live is to use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter your ZIP code, indicate that you have Medicaid, and the tool will narrow the results to the D-SNPs available in your county. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Before you enroll, it's worth asking the plan directly whether your doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and regular prescriptions are covered under its network and formulary for 2027. The Evidence of Coverage and provider and pharmacy directories from the plan are the authoritative sources for those answers.

Free help

You don't have to sort this out alone, and you don't have to pay anyone to help you understand your options.

• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder, plan documents, and enrollment tools.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048, is staffed around the clock.
• The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is the office that confirms Medicaid eligibility and dual-eligible status.
• Each plan has its own member services line printed on plan materials and on the carrier's website.

For 2027, the Illinois D-SNP picture is compact: 4 plans, 4 carriers, available county by county. The dates to remember are October 15 – December 7, 2026, for the Annual Enrollment Period, with coverage starting January 1, 2027.