Medicare Advantage

Is Your 2027 Kansas City Plan Still a Fit? Check Now

Jackson County has 65 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 11 plans are not coming back, 12 are new, and 36 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 16 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Kansas City, not which plan to pick.

Kansas City, Mo. — It is fall 2026, and the Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 Medicare coverage is open through Dec. 7, 2026. Any change you make now takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current Medicare Advantage plan simply renews next year — with whatever changes its carrier spelled out in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) that landed in your mailbox in September.

That makes this a good moment to slow down and compare. Kansas City sits in Jackson County, where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says 65 Medicare Advantage plans from 8 carriers will be offered for 2027. Twelve of those plans are new, and 11 that were sold in 2026 are not coming back. Here is how to work through the choices without getting overwhelmed.

What is on offer in Jackson County for 2027

For plan year 2027, Jackson County residents can choose from 65 Medicare Advantage plans across 8 carriers: Aetna (CVS Health), American Health Advantage of Missouri, Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Humana, NHC Advantage, Provider Partners Health Plans and UnitedHealthcare. All 65 include prescription drug coverage.

By plan type, there are 21 HMOs, 18 HMO-POS plans, 24 PPOs and 2 PFFS plans. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

Twenty-nine are Special Needs Plans (SNPs), which are built for people in specific situations:

• D-SNPs (15 in the county) are for people with both Medicare and Medicaid.
• C-SNPs (5) are for people with certain chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease.
• I-SNPs (9) are for people who live in a nursing home or need that level of care.

You can only join a SNP if you meet its eligibility rules.

What is new for 2027

CMS counts 12 new Medicare Advantage plans in Jackson County for 2027 and 11 that are not returning. A few carrier lineups are shifting as well — for example, Devoted Health's plan count in the county grows for 2027, and UnitedHealthcare's count shifts. Some plans have also been renamed, which can be confusing because the plan ID stays the same even when the name on your card changes.

The quickest way to find out what applies to you is the Annual Notice of Change your plan mailed in September. It spells out next year's premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers and any network changes in one document.

A step-by-step way to compare

Picking a plan is really five smaller decisions. Take them one at a time.

1. Start with your ANOC. Read the "summary of changes" page. If nothing important is changing and your plan still fits, you may be done.

2. Check your doctors and hospitals. Call the office — not just the plan directory — and ask whether they will be in-network for the specific plan you are considering in 2027. Directories lag; staff schedulers usually know. In Kansas City, that means confirming the hospital system you prefer (for example, Saint Luke's, Research Medical Center or the University of Kansas Health System across the state line) is contracted.

3. Price out your prescriptions. Log in to the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov and enter each drug, dose and quantity. The tool shows each plan's estimated yearly drug cost at the pharmacy you choose. Try both a preferred retail pharmacy and mail order — the difference can be significant.

4. Check your pharmacy. The same plan can treat a drug very differently depending on whether your pharmacy is "preferred," "standard" or out-of-network. If you use a specific pharmacy near home, make sure it is listed as preferred.

5. Add it all up. Look at the total of the plan's monthly premium (plus your Part B premium), the deductible, your expected copays and the drug total from Plan Finder. The cheapest premium is not always the cheapest year.

The Part D numbers that apply in 2027

Two program-level figures are confirmed for 2027 and apply to the Part D (drug) coverage inside Medicare Advantage plans:

• The out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs is $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). Once you hit it, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The maximum Part D deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Plans can charge less, but not more.

The 2027 standard Part B premium and deductible, and the IRMAA income brackets for higher earners, have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes them in November — check medicare.gov for the official figures before you finalize anything.

If drug costs are tight month-to-month, ask your plan about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the calendar year at no extra charge.

Tools that give you a straight answer

• Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov — enter your ZIP code, drugs and pharmacy to compare every Jackson County plan side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), open 24/7, to walk through options with a representative.
• The plan's own Evidence of Coverage and provider/pharmacy directories — the final word on what a plan covers and who is in-network.

If you miss Dec. 7, you still have the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2027, when people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch once to another MA plan or go back to Original Medicare.