Medicare Advantage

Medicare in Reno: 2027 Roadmap & 31 Options

People in Reno can choose from 42 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 47 this year. Twelve of this year’s plans are gone, 7 are new to Washoe County, and 23 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 11 of them under a new name.

Medicare in Reno: Your 2027 roadmap and 31 options — plain-language Medicare information for Reno, Nevada.

RENO, Nev. — If you're on Medicare in northern Nevada, 2027 brings some real clarity on what you can be asked to pay. The program has a firmer set of guardrails around drug costs next year, and Reno shoppers still have a solid field of plans to sort through. Reno sits in Washoe County, where 31 Medicare Advantage plans are available for 2027, according to the CMS Medicare Plan Finder and Landscape files.

This piece focuses on the cost pieces — the premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket limits set at the program level — so you can walk into Annual Enrollment knowing what the numbers actually mean.

Start with the parts, because each part has its own price tag

Medicare's costs aren't one bill. They come from separate pieces, and each piece has its own rules:

• Part A (hospital) is premium-free for most people who paid Medicare taxes long enough. It still has a per-stay hospital deductible set by CMS each year.
• Part B (doctor and outpatient) has a standard monthly premium and an annual deductible, both set nationally by CMS.
• Part D (prescription drugs) is sold by private insurers, but CMS sets the ceilings for what those plans can charge.
• Medicare Advantage (Part C) bundles A, B and usually D through a private insurer, with its own premium (sometimes on top of Part B) and its own in-network out-of-pocket maximum.
• Medigap is separate supplemental insurance that helps with Original Medicare's cost-sharing; it has its own monthly premium.

Knowing which bucket a cost falls into makes it much easier to compare options at Reno-area events or on Medicare.gov.

The Part D numbers you should memorize for 2027

For 2027, Part D has two figures worth writing down:

• $2,400 — the most you can pay out of pocket for covered prescription drugs in 2027. Once you hit it, your covered drugs cost you nothing for the rest of the year. (The 2026 cap is $2,100.)
• $700 — the maximum deductible a Part D plan can charge in 2027. Many plans set theirs lower, but no plan can go higher. (The 2026 maximum is $615.)

The old "donut hole" coverage gap was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three straightforward phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic (where the annual cap kicks in).

There's also the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, an optional feature that lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter. It doesn't lower what you owe — it just smooths the timing.

How income can change your premium: IRMAA

Higher-income beneficiaries pay more for Part B and Part D through a surcharge called IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount). For 2026, IRMAA begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer (and roughly double that for a married couple filing jointly). Social Security uses your tax return from two years earlier to decide.

If your income has dropped because of a life event — retirement, the death of a spouse, divorce — you can ask Social Security to reconsider using Form SSA-44.

What the Reno plan field looks like

Cost structure only matters if you have real choices, and Washoe County shoppers do. For 2027:

• 31 Medicare Advantage plans are available in the county.
• 10 carriers are offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage (MA-PD) locally.
• 0 stand-alone Part D drug plans appear in the county's Landscape file for 2027. If you're on Original Medicare and want drug coverage, this is worth confirming on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder for your ZIP code, since availability can shift year to year.
• About 88,010 Washoe County residents are age 65 or older, giving Reno one of the larger Medicare populations in Nevada.

Star Ratings are CMS's 1-to-5 quality score for plan contracts. They're a useful signal about member experience and customer service, but they aren't a price tag — always look at ratings alongside the cost structure of a plan.

Dates that drive your costs

• October 15 – December 7: Annual Enrollment Period. Changes made here take effect January 1.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you're already in an MA plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.

Missing these windows can lock you into a cost structure that doesn't fit — which is the most common avoidable Medicare mistake.

Where to get personal help in Reno

Because premiums, deductibles and IRMAA all depend on your specific situation, use a neutral source before you enroll:

• Medicare.gov Plan Finder — enter your Reno ZIP code and your prescription list to see real numbers.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — 24/7 help from CMS.
• Nevada SHIP — the State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers free, unbiased counseling for Nevada residents, including Washoe County.