Medicare Advantage

New Jersey Medicare Advantage Plans for Chronic Conditions in 2027: 7 C-SNPs

TRENTON, N.J. — For 2027, New Jersey residents who live with certain long-term health conditions will have seven Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans, known as C-SNPs, to consider during Medicare's fall enrollment window. The count comes from the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for the 2027 plan year, which lists 71 Medicare Advantage plans statewide. Of those, 7 are C-SNPs, 5 are Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), and 3 are Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs).

Chronic-condition plansNew Jersey

This explainer walks through what a C-SNP is, which carriers are offering one in New Jersey next year, how to tell what condition a plan is built around, and how to confirm a plan is actually available in your county.

What a C-SNP is and who qualifies

A Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan designed for people living with a specific, serious, chronic health condition. CMS defines the categories of qualifying conditions, which include illnesses such as diabetes, chronic heart failure, cardiovascular disorders, and end-stage renal disease, among others.

To enroll in a C-SNP, two things must be true. First, you need to have Medicare Part A and Part B and live in the plan's service area. Second, your qualifying chronic condition has to be verified by a provider — typically through a form the plan sends to your doctor's office after you apply. If the condition cannot be verified within the time the plan allows, enrollment doesn't go through.

C-SNPs are Medicare Advantage plans, so they replace Original Medicare while you're enrolled, and the ones listed for New Jersey in 2027 all include drug coverage. Specific costs, provider networks, drug lists, and extra benefits vary from plan to plan and must be checked in each plan's own documents on Medicare.gov or in the Evidence of Coverage.

The statewide count and the carriers offering them

For 2027, five carriers are offering C-SNPs somewhere in New Jersey, according to the CMS Landscape file:

• Devoted Health (3 plans)
• Elevance Health (Anthem) (1 plan)
• Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (1 plan)
• Humana (1 plan)
• UnitedHealthcare (1 plan)

Several of these are new for the coming plan year compared with the 2026 file: all three Devoted Health C-SNPs, the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey plan, and the UnitedHealthcare plan are listed as new for 2027. The full plan-by-plan details are shown in the table on this page, including each plan's type (HMO, HMO-POS, or PPO) and the number of New Jersey counties where it is offered. Because availability is county by county, a plan that appears on the statewide list may or may not be sold where you live.

The conditions named in plan names

CMS does not require a C-SNP to put its target condition in the plan name, and most of New Jersey's 2027 C-SNPs don't. There are two exceptions in this year's list:

• Wellpoint Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP) from Elevance Health (Anthem), whose name indicates kidney disease.
• Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP) from Humana, whose name indicates diabetes and heart conditions.

The other five plans — the three Devoted Health "Choice" plans, Horizon Specialty Care, and UHC Complete Care NJ-8 — don't name a condition in the plan title. If you're interested in one of them, the plan's materials on Medicare.gov will spell out which chronic conditions it is designed to serve and what documentation your doctor will need to provide.

The Special Enrollment Period for people with a qualifying condition

Most people make Medicare Advantage choices during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, 2026, with coverage starting January 1, 2027.

People with a qualifying chronic condition have an additional option. Under CMS enrollment rules, having a qualifying condition can open a Special Enrollment Period that lets you join a C-SNP outside the fall window, once your provider verifies the diagnosis. If you later lose the condition status — for example, after a transplant in the case of certain kidney plans — a separate SEP typically allows a move to another Medicare Advantage plan or back to Original Medicare. The exact rules are posted on Medicare.gov under Medicare enrollment periods, and 1-800-MEDICARE can walk through how they apply in your situation.

Checking a plan in your county

New Jersey has 21 counties, and the 2027 C-SNPs are offered in widely different footprints. UHC Complete Care NJ-8 is listed statewide across all 21 counties, Wellpoint Kidney Care is listed in 15 counties, each of the three Devoted Health C-SNPs is listed in 14 counties, Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart is listed in 11 counties, and Horizon Specialty Care is listed in 7 counties. These are the county counts from the CMS Landscape file; the table on this page shows them plan by plan.

To check whether a specific plan is available at your address:

1. Go to Medicare.gov and use the Plan Finder with your ZIP code. 2. Filter by plan type, choosing Special Needs Plans and then Chronic Condition SNPs. 3. Review the plan's own summary, Evidence of Coverage, and pharmacy and provider directories before enrolling.

Free help

You don't have to sort this out alone, and you don't have to pay to get accurate information.

• Medicare.gov has the official Plan Finder, the current year's plan documents, and the enrollment-period rules.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can answer questions about enrollment periods, Special Enrollment Periods tied to a chronic condition, and how to check whether a specific plan serves your county.