Medicare Advantage

A Look at Medicare Plan Options Around Minnetonka

If you live in Minnetonka and you're sorting through Medicare choices, it helps to see the bigger picture first. What's offered in your city is really shaped by what's offered across the wider metro — because Medicare plan availability is set county by county, not city by city. So a look at nearby counties is one of the clearest ways to understand what's on the table for you.

A snapshot of Medicare options around Minnetonka this year

Minnetonka sits in Hennepin County, and the county is home to roughly 198,000 people aged 65 or older. That's a large Medicare-eligible population, and it tends to bring a wide range of plan choices with it.

How plan availability works across the metro

Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are approved at the county level. That means a plan available in Hennepin County may or may not be available in Ramsey, Anoka, Dakota, Carver, Scott, or Washington counties next door. If you move across a county line — even just a few miles — your options can shift.

For 2026, Hennepin County has 32 Medicare Advantage plans available, offered by 5 carriers that provide MA-PD (Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage). Notably, there are 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed at the county level in the current data, which is unusual and worth double-checking on Medicare's Plan Finder for your specific ZIP code.

These are area-wide counts. They don't tell you which plan fits your doctors, your prescriptions, or your budget — only that there's a meaningful menu to compare.

Why nearby counties matter, even if you're staying put

A few reasons the metro-wide view is useful:

• You might be shopping for a parent or relative in a different county.
• You may be planning a move within the Twin Cities and want to know whether your plan travels with you. (Often, it doesn't.)
• Provider networks cross county lines, but plan availability doesn't always follow the same map.

If you're comparing Minnetonka to, say, a suburb in Dakota or Washington County, run each ZIP code through medicare.gov's Plan Finder. The plan lists — and the carriers behind them — can look different.

What "star ratings" mean here

CMS publishes Star Ratings each year to measure plan quality on things like customer service, member experience, and how well plans manage chronic conditions. In the current Hennepin County data, 0 contracts are rated 4 stars or higher. Ratings can shift year to year, and they're only one factor. A plan's network, drug formulary, and total out-of-pocket costs usually matter just as much for day-to-day life.

2026 Medicare facts worth knowing

Whether you stay with Original Medicare, add a Part D drug plan, or choose Medicare Advantage, a few program-wide rules apply in 2026:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100. Once your covered drug costs hit that amount, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 (plans can charge less).
• The "donut hole" is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional way to spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments, at no added cost.
• IRMAA surcharges (higher Part B and Part D premiums) kick in above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates to circle

• Annual Enrollment Period: 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, you get one chance during this window to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.

How to decide — a simple approach

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. Check whether they're in-network for the plans you're considering. 2. List your prescriptions. Plan Finder lets you enter each drug and see estimated yearly cost by plan. 3. Think about how you use care. Frequent specialists? Travel a lot? Prefer predictable copays? Those preferences point in different directions. 4. Compare total cost, not just premium. Deductibles, copays, and the drug cap all add up. 5. Ask a neutral expert. Minnesota's SHIP program (called the Senior LinkAge Line here) offers free, unbiased help.