Medicare Advantage

Comparing Minneapolis Medicare Advantage plans for 2027: a step-by-step guide before Dec. 7

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, Minn. — Fall 2026. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in Minneapolis, this is the stretch of the year when it pays to slow down and compare. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and the plan you choose — or keep by doing nothing — takes effect January 1, 2027.

Minneapolis sits in Hennepin County, and that is where Medicare plan availability is actually set. For 2027, Hennepin County will have 25 Medicare Advantage plans from 6 carriers, with 6 plans new for 2027 and 13 plans not returning. That is a real shift from this year's lineup, and it is the reason comparing — even if you like your current plan — is worth an hour of your time.

What is on offer in Hennepin County for 2027

Here is the shape of next year's Medicare Advantage market where Minneapolis sits:

• 25 Medicare Advantage plans from 6 carriers
• By type: 3 HMO plans and 22 PPO plans
• All 25 plans include drug coverage
• 7 Special Needs Plans: 3 Dual-eligible SNPs (D-SNP) and 4 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNP)
• 6 new plans for 2027 and 13 plans not returning

By carrier, in alphabetical order, the 2027 Hennepin County lineup looks like this:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 8 plans (PPO)
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota — 2 plans (PPO)
• Blue Plus — 1 plan (HMO), which is a D-SNP
• HealthPartners — 3 plans (HMO, PPO), including 1 D-SNP
• Medica — 5 plans (HMO, PPO), including 1 D-SNP
• UnitedHealthcare — 6 plans (PPO)

The table below lists every plan by carrier so you can see the full roster at a glance.

What's new, what's changing

A few headlines worth knowing before you compare:

• 13 plans available in 2026 will not return in Hennepin County next year. If one of them is yours, your insurer will send a non-renewal notice, and you have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan.
• 6 plans are new for 2027. New plans mean new networks and new drug lists to check — a new name does not automatically mean a better fit for you.
• A handful of returning plans have been renamed. The specifics are in each plan's Annual Notice of Change.
• At the program level, the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 (up from $615). The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33 — that is a formula used to set certain Part D amounts, not a figure any single plan charges.
• The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes them in the fall.

A step-by-step way to compare plans

You do not need to read 25 Evidence of Coverage booklets. Work through these steps instead.

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Your current plan mailed this to you in September. It spells out, line by line, what is changing for 2027 — premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, extra benefits, and the provider network. If anything matters to you, this is where you will spot it.

2. List your doctors, hospitals and specialists. Write down who you actually see — primary care, any specialists, your preferred hospital system in the Twin Cities. Then check each plan you are considering to confirm those providers are in network for 2027. Networks can change year to year.

3. List your prescriptions. Write down every prescription, with the dose and how often you take it. On the Medicare Plan Finder, you can enter this list once and see what each plan's formulary (drug list) will cover, with your estimated yearly drug costs.

4. Check your pharmacies. Many plans have "preferred" pharmacies where your cost sharing is lower. If you have a pharmacy you like — a neighborhood store, a chain near work, or mail order — confirm how each plan treats it.

5. Decide what plan type fits. HMOs usually ask you to use in-network providers and often need referrals. PPOs give you more flexibility to go out of network, usually at a higher cost. Special Needs Plans are limited to people who qualify — for example, those with both Medicare and Medicaid (D-SNP) or with certain chronic conditions (C-SNP).

6. Use the Medicare Plan Finder. At medicare.gov, the Plan Finder is the one tool that pulls your drugs, pharmacies and ZIP code together and shows every plan available in Hennepin County for 2027 with its real numbers. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you do nothing

Nothing dramatic happens. If your current plan is offered in 2027, it renews automatically with the changes described in its ANOC. If your plan is one of the 13 not returning, you will get a letter from your insurer, and you can either pick a new plan during Annual Enrollment or use the Special Enrollment Period triggered by the non-renewal.

You also get a second window: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027. During that window, if you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan once, or go back to Original Medicare.