Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in Nebraska Medicare Advantage for 2027: 18 Plans Leaving, 12 Changing

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska's Medicare Advantage lineup is shifting again for the 2027 plan year, and the official federal plan files show the shuffle reaches every corner of the state. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files comparing 2026 and 2027, Nebraska will go from 54 Medicare Advantage plans offered in 2026 to 52 offered in 2027. Behind that small net change is a bigger reshuffle: 18 plans are leaving the state, 16 are new, 12 are returning with at least one change, and 24 are continuing unchanged. All 93 Nebraska counties see at least one plan leave or change.

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What the statewide numbers mean

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes a Landscape Source File each year that lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in every county. Comparing the 2026 file to the 2027 file gives a clean picture of what is leaving, what is new, what is coming back changed, and what is coming back the same.

In CMS's language, a plan is "leaving" Nebraska if it was offered somewhere in the state in 2026 but is offered nowhere in the state in 2027. A plan is "changing" if it is offered in both years but differs on premium, drug deductible, plan type or plan name in at least one county. A plan is "continuing unchanged" if none of those four fields moved year over year in any county where it is offered.

For Nebraska, the 2026-to-2027 comparison shows 18 leaving, 12 changing, 16 new, and 24 continuing unchanged. On the carrier side, Molina Healthcare of Illinois has no Nebraska plans listed for 2027. Two carriers are new to Nebraska for 2027: Iowa Health Advantage and Molina Healthcare of Nebraska.

If your plan is leaving

If your current Medicare Advantage plan is one of the 18 leaving Nebraska for 2027, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice. You will not be enrolled automatically in a replacement plan from a different company, and your current coverage will end December 31, 2026.

Two things are important here. First, you have the regular Annual Enrollment Period from October 15 through December 7, 2026 to pick a new Medicare Advantage plan or move back to Original Medicare, with any choice taking effect January 1, 2027. Second, because your plan is being discontinued, CMS also gives you a Special Enrollment Period that runs through the end of February 2027. That SEP is a safety net: if January 1 arrives and you have not chosen anything, you can still enroll in a new plan during February, though you may have a gap in Medicare Advantage coverage until the new plan starts.

The simplest way to confirm whether your plan is on the leaving list is to watch the mail in late September and early October for your plan's non-renewal letter or Annual Notice of Change.

If your plan is changing

Twelve plans are offered in both 2026 and 2027 but differ on at least one of the four fields CMS tracks — premium, drug deductible, plan type or name — in at least one county. If your plan is in this group, it is not going away, but something about it is moving.

The document that tells you exactly what is different is the Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC. Your plan is required to send it to you by late September. The ANOC is the authoritative source for the specifics of your 2027 coverage; it will show, side by side, what applied in 2026 and what will apply in 2027.

If you do nothing, you stay enrolled in your plan on January 1, 2027, with the ANOC changes in effect. If after reading the ANOC you decide the plan no longer fits, the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7, 2026) is your window to switch.

The counties with the most change

Every one of Nebraska's 93 counties sees at least one plan leave or change for 2027. Several counties see especially heavy activity in the CMS files:

• Butler County: 26 leaving, 4 changing
• Cuming County: 27 leaving, 3 changing
• Fillmore County: 24 leaving, 6 changing
• Howard County: 26 leaving, 4 changing
• Jefferson County: 23 leaving, 7 changing
• Johnson County: 24 leaving, 5 changing
• Nemaha County: 24 leaving, 5 changing
• Saline County: 22 leaving, 7 changing

These are county-level counts of plan offerings in the Landscape file, not counts of enrollees. If you live in one of these counties, the odds that your specific plan is affected are higher simply because more plan listings are in motion.

What to do before December 7

A short checklist for Nebraska Medicare Advantage members this fall:

1. Open the envelope. Your ANOC (if your plan is renewing) or non-renewal letter (if your plan is leaving) arrives by late September. 2. Confirm which bucket you are in: leaving, changing, or continuing unchanged. 3. If your plan is changing, read the ANOC side-by-side comparison for 2027. 4. Check that your doctors, hospitals and prescriptions are covered under any plan you are considering for 2027. 5. Make any change during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 – December 7, 2026. It takes effect January 1, 2027. 6. If your plan is not renewing and January arrives before you have chosen, use the Special Enrollment Period through the end of February 2027.

Where to get free help

You do not have to sort this out alone. Free, unbiased help is available from:

• Medicare.gov, the official federal Medicare website, where you can compare plans available in your ZIP code.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Nebraska's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which offers free one-on-one Medicare counseling from trained local counselors.