Medicare Advantage

If your Omaha Medicare Advantage plan ends Dec. 31, here is your playbook

For 2027, Omaha is looking at 39 Medicare Advantage plans: 11 new, 17 gone since 2026, and 12 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 5 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Douglas County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

OMAHA — Fall 2026. If you open your mailbox this month and find a letter from your Medicare Advantage plan saying it will not be offered next year, you are not alone. In Douglas County, which includes Omaha, 17 Medicare Advantage plans listed for 2026 are not in the CMS file for 2027, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files.

That letter has a name — the plan non-renewal notice — and it starts a clock that gives you more time than the regular Annual Enrollment Period. Here is how to tell if you are affected, what happens if you do nothing, and the choices you have between now and the end of February 2027.

How to tell if your plan is one of the 17

Insurers are required to send a non-renewal notice (sometimes called a plan termination letter) to every member of a plan that will not be offered the next year. It should arrive before the Annual Enrollment Period begins on October 15, 2026, and it will say in plain language that your current plan will end on December 31, 2026.

In Douglas County, the plans not returning for 2027 come from six carriers. In alphabetical order by carrier, they are:

• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska MA Access (PPO)
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska MA Core (HMO)
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska MA Secure (PPO)
• Wellcare Assist Open (PPO) — Centene
• Wellcare Dual Access Sync Open (PPO D-SNP) — Centene
• Wellcare Patriot Giveback Open (PPO) — Centene
• Wellcare Simple Open (PPO) — Centene
• Great Plains Medicare Advantage (HMO I-SNP)
• Great Plains Medicare Advantage Gold (HMO I-SNP)
• Humana Full Access H5216-411 (PPO)
• Medica Advantage Preferred (PPO)
• Medica Advantage Select (PPO)
• Medica Advantage Solution H8889-009 (PPO)
• Medica Advantage Value (PPO)
• Molina Medicare Complete Care (HMO D-SNP)
• UHC Dual Complete NE-S001 (HMO-POS D-SNP) — UnitedHealthcare
• UHC Dual Complete NE-V001 (HMO-POS D-SNP) — UnitedHealthcare

If your plan is not on this list, it is expected to return for 2027 — but it may still change. Read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your plan sent in September; that is where any premium, benefit or network changes for 2027 are spelled out.

What happens if you do nothing

This is the part that surprises people. If your plan is ending and you do not pick a new one, you are not left without any coverage. You will go back to Original Medicare — Part A (hospital) and Part B (medical) — automatically on January 1, 2027.

But Original Medicare does not include prescription drug coverage, and it does not include the extras many Medicare Advantage plans wrap in. You will also not have a cap on Part A and Part B out-of-pocket costs the way an Advantage plan does.

So "doing nothing" is a choice — just make sure it is the one you want.

Your Special Enrollment Period runs through February 28, 2027

Because your plan is non-renewing (not something you chose), Medicare gives you a Special Enrollment Period that is longer than the regular Annual Enrollment Period. You have from the time you get your notice through February 28, 2027, to:

• Choose a different Medicare Advantage plan offered in Douglas County for 2027 (there are 39 plans from 8 carriers listed in the 2027 file), or
• Stay with Original Medicare and add a stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan.

The Annual Enrollment Period itself runs October 15 – December 7, 2026, and a choice made in that window takes effect January 1, 2027. If you use the Special Enrollment Period after December 7, your new coverage generally starts the first of the month after you enroll.

Medigap: a window you may not get again

If you decide to return to Original Medicare, you may also have a guaranteed-issue right to buy a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy — meaning an insurer cannot turn you down or charge you more based on your health. This right is tied to the loss of your Medicare Advantage plan and is time-limited.

Medigap rules vary by state, so for the specifics that apply in Nebraska, contact the Nebraska Department of Insurance before you make a move. Once this window closes, buying Medigap later can involve medical underwriting.

Figures that are set for 2027

A few program-level numbers for 2027 are already published by CMS and are worth keeping in mind as you compare plans:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 (this is a formula input, not what any plan actually charges).

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not yet been announced. CMS typically publishes those in the fall, usually in November.

How to compare your options

The most reliable tool is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. You can enter your ZIP code, your prescriptions and your preferred pharmacies, and it will show you every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan available in Douglas County for 2027, along with the costs and coverage specific to your situation. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The table on this page lists the full set of plans, so you can see at a glance which carriers are still offering coverage in the Omaha area for 2027.