Medicare Advantage

Medicare and Medicaid in Kentucky: 22 Dual Special Needs Plans for 2027

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentuckians who have both Medicare and Medicaid will have 22 Dual Special Needs Plans to look at for 2027, drawn from the 123 Medicare Advantage plans listed statewide in the CMS Landscape Source File for the coming year. The plans are built for people who qualify for both programs, and availability is set county by county, which means a plan listed statewide may or may not appear in the county where a reader lives.

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and a choice made during that window takes effect January 1, 2027. People who are dual-eligible also have options to change plans at other points in the year, which is explained below.

What is a D-SNP in Kentucky and who qualifies in 2027?

A Dual Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) is a type of Medicare Advantage plan in Kentucky designed only for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid in 2027. Enrollment requires that the Kentucky Medicaid agency confirm the person's dual-eligible status before a D-SNP can take effect.

There are two broad groups the plans serve. "Full" dual eligibles have Medicare plus full Medicaid benefits. "Partial" dual eligibles have Medicare and get help from Medicaid with certain Medicare costs — categories such as the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program — without receiving the full Medicaid benefit package. Different D-SNPs in Kentucky are designed for different subsets of this population, which is why some plan names in the table on this page reference "QMB Only" or "Partial Dual." The state Medicaid agency is the office that determines which category a person falls into, and that determination is what a plan uses to confirm eligibility.

Beyond D-SNPs, the CMS Landscape also lists 15 Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs) and 6 Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) in Kentucky for 2027. Those are separate from D-SNPs and serve different populations.

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

Kentucky has 22 D-SNPs for 2027, offered by five carriers: Aetna (CVS Health) with 2 plans, Centene (WellCare) with 4, Humana with 6, Passport Advantage with 3, and UnitedHealthcare with 7. That 22 is part of the 123 Medicare Advantage plans listed statewide for the year.

The full plan-by-plan list appears in the table on this page, including county counts for each plan. A few patterns are worth noting without ranking anything. Centene (WellCare) lists plans such as Wellcare Dual Access, Wellcare Dual Access Sync Open, Wellcare Dual Liberty Sync and Wellcare Dual Reserve. Humana includes names such as Humana Dual QMB Only, Humana Dual Select, Humana Gold Plus SNP-DE and HumanaChoice SNP-DE. UnitedHealthcare lists UHC Dual Advantage KY-V1, UHC Dual Complete KY-Q1, UHC Dual Complete KY-Q2, UHC Dual Complete KY-S3 and UHC Dual Complete KY-S4. Aetna (CVS Health) lists Aetna Medicare HIDE and Aetna Medicare Partial Dual, and Passport Advantage lists three D-SNPs under its own name.

Several plans are new for 2027 or renamed. The Humana Dual QMB Only plans and three of the UnitedHealthcare Dual Complete KY-Q2 and KY-S4 listings are flagged in the Landscape file as new. Wellcare Dual Access and UHC Dual Advantage KY-V1 and UHC Dual Complete KY-Q1 are renamed versions of plans listed under different names in 2026. The table on this page shows the previous names where applicable.

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

A dual-eligible person in Kentucky generally has more chances to change Medicare Advantage or Part D plans in 2027 than someone with Medicare alone. The Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, 2026, is the main window for all Medicare beneficiaries, and changes made then take effect January 1, 2027.

In addition, Medicare rules give full dual-eligible and certain partial dual-eligible beneficiaries a Special Enrollment Period that can be used once per calendar quarter during the first three quarters of the year to switch to another Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. There is also a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027, during which someone already in a Medicare Advantage plan can make one change. The specific SEP rules for dual eligibles have been adjusted by CMS in recent years, so the current rules on medicare.gov are the authoritative version.

How do I check whether a Kentucky D-SNP is offered in my county for 2027?

The way to check whether a specific D-SNP is offered in a Kentucky county for 2027 is to enter the ZIP code into the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, which lists every Medicare Advantage and D-SNP plan available in that ZIP code. The county counts in the table on this page come from the CMS Landscape file and show how many of Kentucky's 120 counties each plan serves, but the Plan Finder is where a reader confirms what is actually available at their address.

For example, several Centene (WellCare) D-SNPs are listed in 120 counties, while some Passport Advantage and Humana D-SNPs appear in a single-digit number of counties. A plan with wide statewide availability may still have different provider networks and service areas inside a given county, and the Plan Finder, the plan's Evidence of Coverage, and the plan's provider and pharmacy directories are the documents that spell out those details.

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

Kentuckians can get free help comparing D-SNPs for 2027 from Medicare directly. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov allows side-by-side comparisons of plans available in a ZIP code, and 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to answer questions about enrollment, eligibility verification steps, and how a specific plan works.

For questions about Medicaid eligibility status — which is what determines whether someone qualifies for a D-SNP at all — the Kentucky Medicaid agency is the office that makes that determination and can explain whether a person is listed as full dual, QMB, or another category.