Medicare Advantage

HMO or PPO? Maryland Medicare Advantage for 2027: 34 HMO Plans, 13 PPO

BALTIMORE — Maryland's Medicare Advantage menu for 2027 leans heavily toward HMO-style coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Landscape Source File for the coming plan year. Across the state, 47 Medicare Advantage plans from 9 carriers will be offered, and the split by plan type is 34 HMO (including HMO-POS) and 13 PPO.

For Marylanders weighing their options during the Annual Enrollment Period that runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, the HMO-versus-PPO question is often the first fork in the road. The choice you make in that window takes effect January 1, 2027.

How does Maryland's 2027 Medicare Advantage menu split between HMO and PPO?

Maryland's 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup splits 34 HMO plans (29 HMO plus 5 HMO-POS) and 13 PPO plans, drawn from 47 total plans and 9 carriers in the CMS Landscape Source File for 2027. HMO-style coverage, in other words, accounts for roughly three of every four plans listed statewide for the year.

Those statewide totals count each plan once. Because Medicare Advantage availability is set county by county, a plan that appears in the state file may not be sold in your ZIP code, and your neighborhood menu could look smaller — or more HMO-heavy, or more PPO-heavy — than the state figure suggests. The county-level table on this page shows what is actually offered where you live.

What do HMO, HMO-POS, PPO and PFFS mean for networks, referrals and out-of-network care in Maryland?

In Maryland for 2027, the plan "type" code tells you how the network works. An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) generally requires you to use in-network doctors and hospitals and may require a referral from a primary care physician to see a specialist; care outside the network is typically covered only in emergencies.

An HMO-POS (Point of Service) is an HMO with a limited "point of service" option that lets you go outside the network for certain services, usually at a higher cost. A PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) lets you see any Medicare-approved provider who will bill the plan, in or out of network, usually with a lower cost share for in-network care and no referral required for specialists. A PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service) plan sets its own payment terms with providers who agree to accept them; no PFFS plans appear in the Maryland 2027 statewide block. Specific copays, deductibles and provider lists are not in the Landscape file — those come from each plan's Evidence of Coverage and provider directory.

Which Maryland carriers offer HMO, HMO-POS and PPO plans for 2027?

For 2027 in Maryland, eight carriers offer HMO plans, two offer HMO-POS plans, and four offer PPO plans, according to the CMS Landscape file. The HMO carriers are Alterwood Advantage, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Advantage DualPrime, HealthSpring, Humana, Johns Hopkins Advantage MD, Kaiser Permanente, KeyCare Advantage and UnitedHealthcare.

The HMO-POS carriers for 2027 are Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare. The PPO carriers are CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Medicare Advantage, Humana, Johns Hopkins Advantage MD and UnitedHealthcare. Several carriers appear in more than one column because they offer different plan types; the full lineup, including which plan belongs to which type, is in the carrier and plan tables on this page.

How do I decide which Medicare Advantage plan type fits my doctors and travel in Maryland for 2027?

Start with two questions: who are your doctors, and where do you spend your time? If your preferred Maryland providers are all in a single health system's network and you rarely travel, an HMO or HMO-POS plan in the 2027 Maryland lineup may fit comfortably. If you split time between Maryland and another state, see specialists at multiple unrelated systems, or want the freedom to see an out-of-network provider without a referral, a PPO is often the type people look at first.

Then check three things against each plan you are considering for 2027: the provider directory (to confirm your doctors and hospitals are in network), the pharmacy and drug list (if you take regular prescriptions), and the Summary of Benefits (for the specifics on cost sharing and extras). The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov pulls these together for every plan available in your county.

What should Marylanders do before December 7, 2026 about 2027 Medicare Advantage coverage?

Before December 7, 2026, Marylanders on Medicare should review the 2027 Annual Notice of Change their current plan mailed in the fall, then compare it to the other 2027 plans available in their county on the Medicare Plan Finder. The Annual Enrollment Period opens October 15, 2026 and closes December 7, 2026, and any choice made in that window starts January 1, 2027.

A short checklist helps: list your doctors and hospitals, list your prescriptions with dosages, note the pharmacies you use, and think about whether you expect to travel or spend time out of state in 2027. With that in hand, filtering Maryland's 47 plans down to the ones that fit becomes a much shorter exercise.

Where can Marylanders get free help comparing 2027 Medicare Advantage plans?

Free, unbiased help for Marylanders comparing 2027 Medicare Advantage plans is available directly from Medicare. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code, drug list and preferred pharmacies and see every plan available in your county with its full benefit details.

You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including TTY at 1-877-486-2048. For plan-specific questions — provider networks, prior authorization, mail-order pharmacy — the plan's own member services line, Evidence of Coverage and provider directory are the authoritative sources.