Medicare Advantage

Have Diabetes or CKD? Detroit's 2027 C-SNP Options

For 2027, Detroit is looking at 86 Medicare Advantage plans: 12 new, 16 gone since 2026, and 37 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 5 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Wayne County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

DETROIT — Fall 2026. For people on Medicare in Detroit who are living with a serious, long-term health condition, there is a specific kind of Medicare Advantage plan built around that situation: a Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan, or C-SNP. For the 2027 plan year, Wayne County — the county Detroit sits in — will have 11 C-SNPs offered by five carriers, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape file for 2027.

Here is who offers them, how they work, who qualifies, and when you can sign up outside the usual Fall window.

What a C-SNP is, in plain language

A Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan designed for people living with certain long-term conditions — things like diabetes, chronic heart failure, chronic kidney disease, or end-stage renal disease on dialysis. Every C-SNP includes prescription drug coverage (Part D) as part of the plan.

The idea is that the plan's provider network, drug list, care team and extra benefits are built around one condition (or a related group of conditions). Two people on Medicare in Detroit could both have diabetes and still choose very different plans — a C-SNP is one option worth comparing against a standard Medicare Advantage plan or Original Medicare with a drug plan.

For personal plan details — premiums, copays, drug lists, in-network doctors, and star ratings — use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or read the plan's own Evidence of Coverage.

The 11 C-SNPs offered in Wayne County for 2027

The table below lists every C-SNP available in Wayne County for 2027, by carrier. In alphabetical order:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — Aetna Medicare Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP)
• Health Alliance Plan by Henry Ford Health — HAP Medicare Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP)
• Humana — HumanaChoice - Diabetes and Heart (PPO C-SNP)
• UnitedHealthcare — UHC Complete Care MI-5 (HMO-POS C-SNP), new for 2027; UHC Complete Care Support MI-3 (PPO C-SNP)
• Zing Health — Zing Elite Balance IN-MI (HMO C-SNP), renamed from Zing Elite Balance MI (HMO C-SNP); Zing Elite Diabetes & Heart MI (HMO C-SNP); Zing Elite Essentials Diabetes & Heart MI (HMO C-SNP), new for 2027; Zing Open Choice Diabetes & Heart MI (PPO C-SNP); Zing Select Diabetes & Heart MI (HMO C-SNP); Zing Select Dialysis MI (HMO C-SNP)

For context, Wayne County will have 86 Medicare Advantage plans total for 2027, and 22 of those are Special Needs Plans of some kind: 11 C-SNPs, 8 Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs, for people with both Medicare and Medicaid), and 3 Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs, for people in long-term care settings). C-SNPs are the slice built around a chronic diagnosis.

How enrollment works — the diagnosis step

A C-SNP is not open enrollment. To join one, you need a qualifying chronic condition, and the plan has to verify that diagnosis with your provider before your enrollment can be completed.

In practice, it looks like this:

1. You pick a C-SNP whose target condition matches your diagnosis. 2. You apply, and the plan sends a short form to the doctor you name. 3. Your provider confirms the diagnosis, and the plan finalizes your enrollment.

If the diagnosis cannot be verified, the plan cannot enroll you. If your condition changes later and you no longer qualify, there are protections that give you time to switch to another Medicare option — your plan has to tell you how that works.

You get a Special Enrollment Period

Most people change Medicare plans during the Annual Enrollment Period, which runs October 15 – December 7, 2026 for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan renews for 2027 under the terms spelled out in its Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) — read that notice when it arrives in late September.

But people with a qualifying chronic condition don't have to wait for Oct. 15. You get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) tied to your condition. You can use that SEP to join a C-SNP once — and in many cases outside the standard windows. If you later lose eligibility, a separate SEP gives you time to move to another plan.

That means if you are newly diagnosed in, say, February 2027, you don't have to wait until next fall to look at a C-SNP.

What's changing for 2027

Across Wayne County's full Medicare Advantage lineup, 16 plans are not returning for 2027, 12 are new, and 5 have been renamed. Within the C-SNP group specifically, two plans are new for 2027 (UHC Complete Care MI-5 and Zing Elite Essentials Diabetes & Heart MI) and one is renamed (Zing Elite Balance IN-MI, previously Zing Elite Balance MI).

A couple of 2027 program-level numbers to keep in mind, since every C-SNP includes drug coverage:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (it is $2,100 in 2026).
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 in 2027 (it is $615 in 2026).

The 2027 Part B standard premium, Part B deductible and IRMAA income brackets had not been announced as of September 2026; CMS typically publishes those in November.