Medicare Advantage

Medicare Options in Radcliff, KY for 2027

If you live in Radcliff and you're trying to make sense of Medicare for 2027, the first thing worth knowing is how much you actually have to choose from. Radcliff is in Hardin County, where 42 Medicare Advantage plans were available for 2026, according to CMS Medicare Plan Finder data. The 2027 lineup shows up in each plan's Annual Notice of Change and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. That's a real menu — and it can feel like a lot when you're the one doing the sorting.

This article isn't about which plan is right for you. It's about the shape of your choices as you look at 2027 coverage, so you know what you're walking into before Annual Enrollment closes on December 7.

What "42 plans" really means in Hardin County

The 42 figure is a county-level count of Medicare Advantage plans open to people with Medicare who live in Hardin County — that includes Radcliff, Elizabethtown, Vine Grove and the smaller communities around them. Medicare sets plan availability by county, not by city, so a neighbor two streets over sees the same list of options you do.

Those 42 plans come from 7 different carriers offering Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD) in the area. Some carriers offer a single plan; others offer several with different network or coverage structures. That's why the plan count is much larger than the carrier count.

What about stand-alone drug plans?

Here's a wrinkle specific to Hardin County: CMS Plan Finder showed 0 stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans listed at the county level for 2026 in this snapshot. Stand-alone Part D is the drug-only coverage that people on Original Medicare typically add for their prescriptions. The 2027 list is on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

If you're on Original Medicare and want drug coverage, this is worth a direct call to 1-800-MEDICARE or a look at medicare.gov to confirm what Part D options apply to your specific ZIP code for 2027, since Plan Finder pulls the current, personalized list. Otherwise, most local drug coverage in 2026 came packaged inside those 42 Medicare Advantage plans as MA-PD; check each plan's ANOC for 2027.

Star Ratings in the area

CMS gives Medicare contracts an overall Star Rating from 1 to 5, based on things like customer service, member complaints, and how well plans manage chronic conditions. In Hardin County's 2026 snapshot, 0 contracts serving the area were rated 4 stars or higher.

That doesn't mean plans here are "bad." Ratings shift year to year, some newer contracts don't yet have a full rating, and stars are only one factor. It just means that if you were planning to filter by that specific cut-off, you'll want to weigh other factors — network, drug coverage, and total costs — more heavily.

Dates and program rules to keep in mind

A few program facts apply no matter which plan you look at:

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7. This is when you can join, switch, or drop Medicare Advantage and Part D plans for coverage starting January 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.
• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 for 2026 and $2,400 for 2027. Once your covered drug costs hit that amount, you pay nothing more for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D deductible ceiling: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027. Plans can charge less, but not more.
• Coverage gap: Gone. Since 2025, Part D has three phases instead of the old "donut hole."
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: Optional — lets you spread drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA: Higher-income surcharges start above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

Who this matters to in Radcliff

Roughly 16,922 people age 65 and older live in Hardin County. That's a sizable share of the population making these decisions each fall — many of them for the first time as they age into Medicare, and many others revisiting a plan they've had for years.

If you're one of them, the useful move isn't to try to compare 42 plans one by one. It's to start with what matters to you: the doctors you already see, the prescriptions you already take, and how you'd like to handle costs. From there, the list narrows quickly.

Where to get personalized help

Because plan details change every year — and because the "right" answer depends on your prescriptions, your doctors, and your budget — this is the kind of decision worth walking through with a neutral source.

• medicare.gov — the official Plan Finder lets you enter your ZIP code and drugs to see what applies to you.
• 1-800-MEDICARE — 24/7 help directly from Medicare.
• Kentucky SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) — free, one-on-one Medicare counseling from trained volunteers who don't sell insurance.