Medicare Advantage

Medicare in Salem: 57 Plan Options for Essex County in 2026

SALEM, Mass. — If you're turning 65 soon, helping a parent sort through mail, or just trying to make sense of your Medicare choices this fall, take a breath. You have time, and you have help. What you also have — here in Essex County — is a lot of options to sift through.

For 2026, Essex County residents can choose from 57 Medicare Advantage plans, offered by 9 different carriers. That's a healthy menu, and it's exactly why a little planning goes a long way.

What "57 plans" really means

Medicare plan availability is set at the county level, not the city level. Salem is in Essex County, where the 2026 Medicare Advantage lineup includes 57 plans across 9 carriers. Some of those plans are HMOs, some are PPOs, and some are Special Needs Plans built for people with specific conditions or on both Medicare and MassHealth.

You won't pick from all 57. Most people quickly narrow the list based on their doctors, their prescriptions, and whether they want dental or vision coverage bundled in.

One local note: Essex County shows 0 stand-alone Part D drug plans in the 2026 Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape data used for this article. If you're staying with Original Medicare and need drug coverage, check medicare.gov's Plan Finder directly, because stand-alone Part D options are typically available statewide even when the local snapshot looks thin.

Salem's Medicare-age population is large — and growing

Essex County is home to roughly 150,106 people age 65 and older. That's a big group, and it's part of the reason so many carriers compete here. More competition generally means more choices, but it can also mean more mail, more TV ads, and more decisions to make between October and December.

How to narrow 57 plans down to one

Here's a simple way to work through the list without getting overwhelmed:

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. If keeping your current providers matters, check each plan's network first. That alone will shrink the list fast. 2. Add your prescriptions. Enter your drugs into the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. It will show what each plan charges for your specific medications. 3. Think about how you like to get care. HMO plans usually require referrals and in-network care. PPOs offer more flexibility, often at a higher cost. 4. Consider the whole picture. Premiums are only one piece. Look at deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and whether you'd rather pay more monthly or more at the point of care.

2026 rules worth knowing before you choose

A few program-wide changes and figures apply no matter which plan you pick:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026. Once your drug spending hits that amount, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615.
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments instead of paying big bills at the pharmacy.
• IRMAA surcharges — higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher earners — begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates for Salem residents

• Annual Enrollment Period (AEP): October 15 – December 7. This is when most people compare and switch plans for the coming year.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan and it isn't working out, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.

What about Star Ratings?

CMS rates Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts on a 1-to-5 scale. In the local snapshot used for this article, 0 contracts in Essex County are rated 4 stars or higher for 2026. Star Ratings can shift year to year and are just one input — network, drug coverage, and total costs matter, too. Use ratings as a data point, not a verdict.