Medicare Advantage

Twelve new Medicare Advantage plans land in New Orleans for 2027 — and how to check one before Dec. 7

Orleans Parish has 67 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 10 plans are not coming back, 12 are new, and 28 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 11 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for New Orleans, not which plan to pick.

NEW ORLEANS — This fall, people on Medicare in and around New Orleans will see 12 Medicare Advantage plans they could not pick a year ago. New Orleans sits in Orleans Parish, where CMS's 2027 Landscape file shows 12 of the plans on offer for next year are brand new, alongside plans that are renewing, renaming, or leaving. Because a brand-new plan has no claims history and no Star Rating yet, it is worth taking a careful look before the Annual Enrollment Period closes on December 7, 2026.

What Medicare Advantage plans are new in New Orleans for 2027?

Twelve Medicare Advantage plans are new to Orleans Parish for 2027, out of 67 plans offered next year. Six carriers are introducing them. In alphabetical order by carrier, the new plans are:

• American Health Advantage of Louisiana — American Health Advantage of Louisiana Choice (HMO I-SNP), with drug coverage
• Centene (WellCare) — Wellcare Louisiana Connections Dual Access (HMO-POS D-SNP), with drug coverage
• Centene (WellCare) — Wellcare Louisiana Connections Dual Liberty (HMO-POS D-SNP), with drug coverage
• Devoted Health — DEVOTED C-SNP CHOICE GIVEBACK EXTRAS 020 LA (PPO C-SNP), with drug coverage
• Devoted Health — DEVOTED CHOICE GIVEBACK EXTRAS 028 LA (PPO), with drug coverage
• Devoted Health — DEVOTED DUAL CHOICE QMB 025 LA (PPO D-SNP), with drug coverage
• Humana — Humana Value Plus H7617-081 (PPO), with drug coverage
• Lagniappe Advantage — Lagniappe Advantage (PPO I-SNP), with drug coverage
• UnitedHealthcare — Peoples Health Complete Care Support (HMO-POS C-SNP), with drug coverage
• UnitedHealthcare — Peoples Health Dual Complete LA-S5 (HMO-POS D-SNP), with drug coverage
• UnitedHealthcare — Peoples Health Secure Complete (HMO-POS D-SNP), with drug coverage
• UnitedHealthcare — Peoples Health Secure Health (HMO-POS D-SNP), with drug coverage

The table below lists every 2027 plan in the parish; this story focuses only on the ones that are new.

Which carriers are adding plans in Orleans Parish for 2027?

Six carriers are launching new plans next year: American Health Advantage of Louisiana (1 new), Centene (WellCare) (2), Devoted Health (3), Humana (1), Lagniappe Advantage (1), and UnitedHealthcare (4). Lagniappe Advantage is new to the local roster as a plan sponsor as well, entering with an institutional Special Needs Plan.

The other 2027 plans from carriers already in the market — Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and the renewing plans from the carriers above — carry over or are being renamed. CMS also lists 10 plans not returning for 2027. If you are in one of those, your plan will send a non-renewal notice.

How many of the new 2027 plans are Special Needs Plans, and what does that mean?

Most of the 12 new plans in Orleans Parish are Special Needs Plans (SNPs). SNPs are a type of Medicare Advantage plan that only accepts members who meet specific criteria:

• D-SNPs are for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible).
• C-SNPs are for people with certain chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease.
• I-SNPs are for people who live in, or need the level of care provided in, a nursing home or similar facility.

Among the 12 new plans, you will see D-SNP, C-SNP, and I-SNP designations in the list above. If none of those apply to you, a SNP is not an option — you would look at the standard HMO, HMO-POS, or PPO plans instead. All 12 new plans include Part D drug coverage.

How is a brand-new plan different from one that is renewing?

A new plan has no track record with CMS yet. Star Ratings — the 1-to-5 scores Medicare publishes each fall — are calculated from member experience, clinical quality, and customer service data a plan has to build over time. A plan in its first year does not have enough of that data to be rated, so you will see it listed without a Star Rating. That is a program rule, not a signal about quality one way or the other.

A renewing plan, by contrast, has a rating and an existing network and formulary that the carrier is adjusting. If your current plan is renewing, read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) it mailed in September for what is different in 2027. If you are considering a new plan, you are relying entirely on the 2027 details the plan is publishing now — the premium, the drug list, the provider network, the extra benefits, and the service area — because there is no past performance to compare.

How do I check a new plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is the one place that lets you check any 2027 plan against your own doctors and your own drug list. The steps:

1. Go to medicare.gov/plan-compare and enter your ZIP code. 2. Add your prescriptions exactly as you take them, including dose and quantity. The tool will show each plan's estimated yearly drug costs and whether a drug is covered. 3. When you see a plan you want to consider, open its details and look for the provider directory link. Search for each of your doctors, specialists, and your preferred hospital by name. For plans from Peoples Health or Humana locally, you can also call the plan directly to confirm a provider is in the 2027 network. 4. Call your pharmacy to ask whether it is an in-network or preferred pharmacy for that plan in 2027. The same drug can cost different amounts at different pharmacies on the same plan. 5. If anything is unclear, call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), available 24/7.

For 2027, the Part D out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs is $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 (up from $615 in 2026). CMS will publish the 2027 Part B premium, Part B deductible, and IRMAA income brackets later in the fall, usually in November.

What happens if I do nothing by December 7?

If you do nothing and your current plan is being offered again in 2027, you will stay in it automatically, with the changes described in your ANOC. If your plan is one of the 10 not returning in Orleans Parish, you will receive a non-renewal letter and you will have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a different plan. You can also change your mind between January 1 and March 31, 2027 during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, which lets you switch Medicare Advantage plans once or go back to Original Medicare.