Medicare Advantage

Medicare and Medicaid in Nebraska: 12 Dual Special Needs Plans for 2027

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraskans who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid will have 12 Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) to consider for 2027, drawn from the 52 Medicare Advantage plans listed statewide in the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for the coming plan year. Six carriers are offering those D-SNPs across the state, though each plan is sold county by county, so what shows up in Omaha may be different from what shows up in Scottsbluff or Chadron.

The numbers below come from the CMS 2027 landscape file. Everything else — monthly premiums, drug lists, provider networks, extra benefits, and star ratings — belongs on the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov or in each plan's own Evidence of Coverage, not in a news story.

What is a D-SNP in Nebraska and who qualifies in 2027?

A Dual Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built only for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, and in Nebraska for 2027 that eligibility has to be confirmed by the state Medicaid agency before enrollment can be completed. D-SNPs coordinate Medicare benefits (hospital, medical and usually Part D drug coverage) with the help a member already gets through Medicaid.

Dual eligibility comes in two broad flavors. "Full" dual-eligible members get the full Medicaid benefit package in addition to Medicare. "Partial" dual-eligible members get help from Medicaid with Medicare costs through one of the Medicare Savings Programs but not the full Medicaid benefit. Different D-SNPs are designed around different categories, so the status Nebraska Medicaid has on file for a person determines which D-SNPs they can actually join. The Social Security Administration handles the underlying Medicare entitlement; Nebraska Medicaid handles the dual status.

How many D-SNPs are offered in Nebraska for 2027 and which carriers offer them?

Nebraska has 12 D-SNPs for 2027, out of 52 Medicare Advantage plans listed statewide, alongside 3 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) and 3 Institutional SNPs (I-SNPs). The six carriers offering D-SNPs in the state are Aetna (CVS Health) with 1 plan, Centene (WellCare) with 1 plan, Devoted Health with 2 plans, Humana with 2 plans, Molina Healthcare of Nebraska with 2 plans, and UnitedHealthcare with 4 plans.

The full plan list is rendered as a table elsewhere on this page, with the county footprint for each plan as reported to CMS. A few notes from that table worth calling out for 2027: Molina Healthcare of Nebraska's two D-SNPs are new for the coming plan year, UnitedHealthcare's UHC Dual Complete NE-QV1 and UHC Dual Complete NE-S4 are also new, and Centene's Wellcare Nebraska Total Care Dual Liberty Sync has been renamed from Wellcare Dual Liberty Sync. Because each plan is filed county by county, the fact that a plan appears on the statewide list does not mean it is offered in a specific reader's county — that has to be checked by ZIP code.

How often can a dual-eligible person in Nebraska change plans in 2027?

People with both Medicare and Medicaid generally have more chances to change coverage than other Medicare beneficiaries, and in Nebraska for 2027 that means using the Dual Eligible Special Enrollment Period in addition to the regular enrollment windows. Under current CMS rules, a full-benefit dual-eligible or Extra Help enrollee can make one Medicare Advantage or Part D change in each of the first three calendar quarters of the year (January–March, April–June, July–September). Changes made during a quarter take effect the first of the following month.

On top of that, everyone with Medicare can use Annual Enrollment, which runs October 15 – December 7, 2026, with any choice taking effect January 1, 2027. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 to March 31, 2027 lets someone already in a Medicare Advantage plan switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare one time. People losing or gaining Medicaid also get a Special Enrollment Period tied to that change in status.

How do I check which D-SNPs are offered in my Nebraska county for 2027?

The fastest way to see which of the 12 Nebraska D-SNPs are offered in a specific county for 2027 is to enter the ZIP code into the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, which pulls directly from the CMS landscape and plan benefit files. The tool will show the plans available at that address, along with premiums, cost sharing, drug coverage and star ratings — details this article does not quote because they vary by plan and change year to year.

County footprints vary widely. The statewide table shows, for example, UHC Dual Complete NE-QV1 listed in 84 counties and UHC Dual Complete NE-S003 listed in 9 counties; Molina Medicare Complete Care appears twice because the carrier filed separate footprints of 52 counties and 4 counties. A person in Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy, Hall, Scotts Bluff or Dawes County should expect a different menu than a neighbor one county over.

Where can Nebraskans get free help comparing D-SNPs for 2027?

Free, unbiased help is available directly from Medicare. Nebraskans can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or use the Plan Finder at medicare.gov to compare every plan offered at their address side by side.

For dual-eligibility questions specifically — whether a person is full or partial dual-eligible, or whether a recent change in income or household has affected status — the answer comes from Nebraska Medicaid (Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services), because that is the agency that confirms dual status to the Medicare plan. The Social Security Administration can answer questions about Medicare entitlement, Part B enrollment and Extra Help with prescription drug costs.