Medicare Advantage

Before AEP Opens, Here's What's Shifting in Minneapolis

People in Minneapolis can choose from 25 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 32 this year. 13 of this year’s plans are gone, 6 are new to Hennepin County, and 9 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 3 of them under a new name.

MINNEAPOLIS — Fall 2026. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in Minneapolis, the 2027 lineup looks different from the one you have now. In Hennepin County, which is where Minneapolis sits for Medicare purposes, 13 Medicare Advantage plans will not return next year, six new plans are joining the market, and three familiar plans are showing up under new names. The rest of the roster rolls forward with the usual year-to-year updates.

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any choice you make takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing and your plan is still being offered, it renews automatically with the changes spelled out in its Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). If your plan is one of the 13 going away, you have a Special Enrollment Period — more on that below.

The 2026 lineup, for context

Before looking at what's changing, it helps to see where Minneapolis starts. In Hennepin County, Medicare beneficiaries can currently choose from 32 Medicare Advantage plans offered by six carriers:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 8 plans
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota — 5 plans
• Blue Plus — 1 plan
• HealthPartners — 5 plans
• Medica — 6 plans
• UnitedHealthcare — 7 plans

By plan type, that breaks down to 3 HMOs, 1 HMO-POS and 28 PPOs. Seven are Special Needs Plans (for people with specific chronic conditions or dual Medicare-Medicaid eligibility), and all 32 include prescription drug coverage. The table on this page lists every plan by carrier.

What's new for 2027

Six Medicare Advantage plans are new to Hennepin County for 2027, in alphabetical order by carrier:

• Blue Cross Medicare Advantage Essential (PPO) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
• HealthPartners Journey Pace (PPO) — HealthPartners
• HealthPartners Journey Smart (PPO) — HealthPartners
• Medica Advantage Preferred (PPO) — Medica
• Medica Advantage Select (PPO) — Medica
• Medica Advantage Value (PPO) — Medica

A couple of these names will look familiar — HealthPartners Journey Pace and Journey Smart are returning as new plan contracts, not continuations of the 2026 plans with the same names. For Medicare purposes, CMS treats them as new plans, which means you have to actively enroll if you want one.

What's not returning

Thirteen plans available in Hennepin County in 2026 will not be offered in 2027:

• Blue Cross Medicare Advantage Choice (PPO), Comfort (PPO), Complete (PPO) and Core (PPO) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
• HealthPartners Journey Pace (PPO), Journey Smart (PPO), Journey Steady (PPO) and Journey Stride (PPO) — HealthPartners (note that Pace and Smart are relaunching as new 2027 plans; Steady and Stride are not)
• Medica Advantage Solution H6154-001 (HMO-POS), H8889-001 (PPO), H8889-003 (PPO) and H8889-005 (PPO) — Medica
• AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC MN-0005 (PPO) — UnitedHealthcare

If you are enrolled in any of these, you will get a non-renewal notice from your plan this fall. You then have a Special Enrollment Period that runs from December 8, 2026 through the end of February 2027 to join a different Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare (with or without a stand-alone Part D plan). You can also make a change during the regular Annual Enrollment Period, which is often simpler because your new coverage starts January 1.

Three plans with new names

Three plans are continuing for 2027 but under different names. CMS considers these the same plan — enrollment carries over — but the paperwork and member materials will use the new name:

• Allina Health Aetna Medicare Premier (PPO) — was Allina Health Aetna Medicare Grand (PPO)
• Allina Health Aetna Medicare Premier Extra (PPO) — was Allina Health Aetna Medicare Grand Extra (PPO)
• Medica Advantage Salute (PPO) — was Medica Advantage Solution H8889-009 (PPO)

If you are in one of these, nothing automatic happens to your membership; just expect new branding on your ID card and mail.

What else is changing in 2027

Beyond the local lineup, two program-level numbers are worth knowing for next year:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs hits that amount, you pay $0 for the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. (Plans can set a lower deductible or none at all; this is the ceiling CMS allows.)

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, had not been published as of September 2026. CMS typically announces those figures in the fall, usually in November.

How to read your Annual Notice of Change

Every plan that is continuing into 2027 — whether or not it is being renamed — has to send members an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by the end of September. It compares your 2026 coverage to the 2027 version, line by line: premium, deductible, copays, drug tier placement, provider network, extra benefits. If something you rely on is changing in a way you do not like, the Annual Enrollment Period is when to act.