Medicare Advantage

Dubuque's 2027 Medicare Advantage slate: which plans arrive, which exit, and how to weigh them

Dubuque, Iowa — Fall 2026. The 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup for Dubuque County is set, and the Annual Enrollment Period that decides your 2027 coverage runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026. Some plans sold here in 2026 are not coming back next year, a few are new, and the mix by carrier and plan type has shifted. Here is a plain-English guide to what changed, what did not, and how to think through a decision without feeling rushed.

What's actually changing for 2027 in Dubuque

Dubuque is in Dubuque County, where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes the plan lineup each fall in its Medicare Advantage Landscape file. That file lists every Medicare Advantage and Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug plan a carrier is allowed to sell to people living in the county for the coming year.

Two things drive the year-to-year shift: carriers decide which plans to renew, retire, or introduce, and CMS approves the final list. When you compare 2026 to 2027 in Dubuque County, you'll see three categories to pay attention to:

• Returning plans — the same plan is offered again, though benefits, premiums, drug lists, and provider networks may change. The plan sends an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) each September explaining what is different for the next year.
• New plans for 2027 — plans a carrier is offering here for the first time.
• Plans not returning — plans that were available in 2026 but will not be sold in Dubuque County in 2027.

We're not naming premium figures, star ratings, or benefit specifics for any plan here — those belong in the Medicare Plan Finder and each plan's own documents, which are the sources CMS points people to.

If your plan is not coming back

If your 2026 Medicare Advantage or Part D plan is not being offered in 2027, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice, typically in early October. That notice matters for two reasons.

First, doing nothing means you lose Medicare Advantage coverage on Dec. 31, 2026 and revert to Original Medicare (Parts A and B) on Jan. 1, 2027, usually without a Part D drug plan attached.

Second, a non-renewal opens a Special Enrollment Period that runs from Dec. 8, 2026 through the end of February 2027. During that window you can:

• Join a different Medicare Advantage plan available in Dubuque County, or
• Return to Original Medicare and add a stand-alone Part D drug plan.

You do not have to wait for the Special Enrollment Period — you can also make the switch during the regular Annual Enrollment Period ending Dec. 7, 2026.

Note that a non-renewal does not automatically guarantee you can buy a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy with no medical underwriting. Medigap rules are set by the state of Iowa; call the Iowa SHIIP (see below) before you assume.

How to sort through the 2027 lineup

The lineup in Dubuque County includes several carriers offering multiple plans each, across plan types like HMO, PPO, and (in some counties) special-needs plans (SNPs) for people with Medicaid or specific chronic conditions. A structured approach beats a long spreadsheet:

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. Ask each provider which 2027 plans they will contract with. Networks can shift year to year. 2. Then check your prescriptions. Enter your drugs, dosages, and pharmacy into the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. The tool shows each plan's 2027 formulary and estimated yearly drug costs. 3. Compare total expected costs, not just the monthly premium — deductibles, copays, and the out-of-pocket maximum matter. 4. Read the Annual Notice of Change for your current plan if it is returning. The change you care about may be small; it may be significant.

The 2027 numbers CMS has confirmed

A few program-wide figures are already published for 2027 and apply to every Part D plan, whether stand-alone or built into a Medicare Advantage plan:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). Once you hit that cap on covered drugs, you pay $0 for the rest of the calendar year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Plans can charge less; they cannot charge more.
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027. This is a formula input CMS uses — not the premium any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets that determine higher-income surcharges, have not yet been announced. CMS typically publishes those in November. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread drug costs across monthly installments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter, is still available in 2027 and you can opt in through your drug plan.

Dates worth writing down

• Oct. 15, 2026 — Annual Enrollment Period opens. You can switch, join, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan.
• Dec. 7, 2026 — Annual Enrollment Period closes. Changes made by this date take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
• Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, 2027 — Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to another one or go back to Original Medicare (with Part D). This does not apply to people in Original Medicare.