Medicare Advantage

Medicare and Medicaid in Kansas: 7 Dual Special Needs Plans for 2027

TOPEKA — Kansans who have both Medicare and Medicaid will see seven Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) available somewhere in the state for 2027, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files for the coming plan year. D-SNPs are a specific type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people who qualify for both programs, and they are offered county by county, which means a plan listed statewide may or may not be sold where any given reader lives.

What is a D-SNP in Kansas and who qualifies for one in 2027?

A D-SNP is a Medicare Advantage plan limited to people who have both Medicare and some level of Medicaid, and in Kansas for 2027 eligibility is confirmed through the state Medicaid agency (KanCare). A person generally qualifies if they are enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B, live in the plan's service area, and have either full Medicaid benefits (full dual eligibility) or help from a Medicare Savings Program such as QMB, SLMB, or QI (partial dual eligibility). Different D-SNPs may be designed for different subsets of dual eligibles, so two people in the same county with different Medicaid statuses can end up eligible for different plans.

D-SNPs are one branch of a broader Special Needs Plan category. For 2027, Kansas also has 10 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) and 3 Institutional SNPs (I-SNPs) counted in the statewide landscape, each with their own eligibility rules. The common thread is that SNPs tailor Medicare Advantage coverage to a specific population.

How many D-SNPs are offered in Kansas for 2027 and which carriers offer them?

For 2027, 7 of the 80 Medicare Advantage plans in Kansas are D-SNPs, offered by three carriers: Centene (WellCare) with 2 plans, Elevance Health (Anthem) with 2 plans, and UnitedHealthcare with 3 plans. The full plan-by-plan breakdown — including county counts, whether a plan is new, and whether a plan was renamed from 2026 — is in the D-SNP table on this page.

A few things are worth noting from the table rather than repeating it in prose. Centene's two WellCare-branded D-SNPs for Kansas, Wellcare Sunflower Health Plan Dual Access and Wellcare Sunflower Health Plan Dual Liberty Sync, are renamed versions of 2026 plans. Elevance Health is entering the Kansas D-SNP market with two new Healthy Blue Full Dual Advantage plans serving different sets of counties. UnitedHealthcare carries forward UHC Dual Complete KS-QV1 (renamed from KS-Q1) and KS-S001, and adds a new KS-S2 plan for 2027. Availability varies widely: some plans are offered in a small group of counties and others reach most of the state.

Because every D-SNP is sold on a county-by-county basis, the statewide count of 7 is not the number any one Kansan will see on their doorstep. The number of D-SNPs available at a specific address will almost always be smaller.

How often can a dual-eligible person in Kansas change Medicare plans in 2027?

People in Kansas who have both Medicare and Medicaid generally have more chances to change plans than someone with Medicare alone. For 2027, dual-eligible individuals can use a Special Enrollment Period to change their Medicare Advantage or Part D plan once during each of the first three calendar quarters — January–March, April–June, and July–September — with the new plan starting the first of the following month.

In addition, everyone with Medicare can use the Annual Enrollment Period, which runs October 15 – December 7, 2026 for coverage that begins January 1, 2027. A separate Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 – March 31, 2027 for people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, allowing one change during that window. Losing or gaining Medicaid eligibility also triggers its own Special Enrollment Period.

How do I check which D-SNPs are offered in my Kansas county for 2027?

The simplest way to see which of the 7 Kansas D-SNPs are offered in a specific county for 2027 is to enter the ZIP code at medicare.gov on the Medicare Plan Finder, which pulls directly from the CMS Landscape Source File. The site will list only the plans sold at that address, including any D-SNPs, along with their official plan documents.

Plan details — premiums, deductibles, copays, drug lists, provider networks, extra benefits, and star ratings — come from the Medicare Plan Finder, 1-800-MEDICARE, or each plan's own Evidence of Coverage and provider and pharmacy directories. Because county footprints differ, a plan listed as serving dozens of Kansas counties still needs to be checked against your specific address.

Where can Kansans get free help comparing D-SNPs for 2027?

Free, unbiased help with Medicare questions in Kansas is available directly from the federal Medicare program at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and through the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Both can confirm which D-SNPs are sold in a given county for 2027 and walk through enrollment.

For Medicaid eligibility specifically — the piece that determines whether someone can enroll in a D-SNP at all — the Kansas Medicaid agency (KanCare) is the office of record. The Social Security Administration handles Medicare enrollment itself and questions about Extra Help with prescription drug costs.