Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in Minnesota Medicare Advantage for 2027: 35 Plans Leaving, 24 Changing

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans on Medicare Advantage will see a smaller menu of plans for the 2027 plan year, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files for CY2026 and CY2027. The number of Medicare Advantage plans offered somewhere in Minnesota drops from 82 for 2026 to 66 for 2027. Every one of the state's 87 counties sees at least one plan leave or change.

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Here is what the two CMS files say, what the terms mean, and what Minnesotans can do between now and December 7, 2026.

What the statewide numbers mean

CMS publishes a Landscape Source File each year listing every Medicare Advantage plan offered in every county. Comparing the CY2026 and CY2027 files for Minnesota, counted once statewide no matter how many counties a plan serves:

• 82 plans for 2026; 66 plans for 2027.
• 35 plans are leaving — offered somewhere in Minnesota for 2026, nowhere for 2027.
• 24 plans are changing — offered both years, but premium, drug deductible, plan type or name differs in at least one county.
• 19 plans are new for 2027.
• 23 plans continue unchanged.

CMS treats a plan as "leaving" when it appears in the 2026 file for Minnesota and does not appear in the 2027 file anywhere in the state. A plan is "changing" when it appears in both years, but at least one of four fields — premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name — is different in at least one county. The CY2027 file lists no Minnesota plans for Humana.

If your plan is leaving

If the plan you have today is on the leaving list, your carrier is required to send a non-renewal notice. You get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that runs through the end of February 2027 to pick another Medicare Advantage plan or move back to Original Medicare and, if you want, a stand-alone Part D plan.

What happens if you do nothing? A plan that is not being offered for 2027 cannot roll you forward on its own. If you take no action during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7, 2026) and do not use the SEP afterward, you can end up back in Original Medicare without a drug plan. That is why the non-renewal letter matters: read it, keep it, and act on it.

The SEP exists precisely so you are not stuck. You have from the notice through the end of February 2027 to make a choice that takes effect the first of the following month under standard SEP rules.

If your plan is changing

Twenty-four Minnesota plans are on the changing list for 2027. That label only tells you that at least one of four CMS fields — premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name — is different in at least one county the plan serves. It does not tell you whether a change affects you, or in which direction.

For the specifics, look for the Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC. Carriers mail the ANOC in September for the following plan year. It compares what your plan looks like now with what it will look like on January 1, 2027, in your county.

If you do nothing, you stay enrolled in a renewing plan with the changes described in that ANOC. That is not necessarily a bad outcome — but it should be a decision you make on purpose, after reading the notice, rather than one that happens by default.

The counties with the most change

Every Minnesota county — 87 of 87 — sees at least one plan leave or change for 2027. The counts below come straight from the CMS file comparison:

• Anoka County: 18 leaving, 6 changing
• Carver County: 18 leaving, 6 changing
• Dakota County: 18 leaving, 6 changing
• Ramsey County: 18 leaving, 6 changing
• Scott County: 18 leaving, 6 changing
• Washington County: 18 leaving, 6 changing
• Isanti County: 16 leaving, 7 changing
• Lake County: 10 leaving, 12 changing

These are counts of plans, not people. A single plan leaving a county can affect many members, or very few. The number tells you the size of the shuffle on the shelf, not the size of the impact on any one household.

What to do before December 7

A short checklist, built around the real dates:

1. Watch the mail in September and early October 2026 for either a non-renewal letter (your plan is leaving) or an ANOC (your plan is renewing, possibly with changes). 2. Make a list of the doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and prescriptions you use today. 3. During the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 – December 7, 2026, compare the plans available in your county on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. A choice made in this window takes effect January 1, 2027. 4. If your plan is on the leaving list and you miss December 7, use your Special Enrollment Period, which runs through the end of February 2027. 5. If you are satisfied with your renewing plan and its ANOC, you do not have to do anything — you will stay enrolled with the changes described in that notice.

Where to get free help

You do not have to sort this out alone, and you do not have to pay anyone to help you.

• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder, which pulls from the same CMS Landscape and Plan Finder data referenced in this article.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) offers free, unbiased, one-on-one Medicare counseling in every state, including Minnesota.