Medicare Advantage

Newark 2027 Medicare Advantage: 9 carriers, 46 plans, sorted by type

Essex County has 48 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 10 plans are not coming back, 10 are new, and 12 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 2 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Newark, not which plan to pick.

Newark 2027 Medicare Advantage: 9 carriers, 46 plans in Essex County, sorted by type and drug coverage.

If you live in Newark and you're sizing up Medicare Advantage for 2027, the good news is you have a lot to compare. The tricky part is knowing what's actually on the shelf before you start shopping. This guide walks through the carriers offering Medicare Advantage in Newark for the 2027 plan year, the plan types each one sells, and whether the plans include drug coverage — so you can narrow the field before you open the Medicare Plan Finder.

Newark sits in Essex County, and Medicare uses the county to decide which plans you can join. That means the full plan roster below is the same whether you live in the Ironbound, Weequahic, Forest Hill or Vailsburg.

What the 2027 Newark lineup looks like

For plan year 2027, CMS's Medicare Advantage Landscape shows 46 Medicare Advantage plans available in Essex County from 9 carriers. Compared with 2026, 10 plans are new, 10 are not returning, 2 are renamed, and 10 continuing plans change something in their terms — those changes are spelled out in each plan's ANOC. Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC) and Braven Health are not offering plans in the county for 2027, while Devoted Health is new to the county. Every one of the 46 plans on the 2027 Essex County list includes drug coverage, so if you enroll in any of them, you'll get your Part A, Part B and Part D benefits through the same plan.

By plan type, the split is:

• HMO: 12 plans
• HMO-POS: 12 plans
• PPO: 24 plans

Eleven of the 48 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs), which are limited to people who meet specific eligibility rules — most commonly having both Medicare and Medicaid (D-SNP), living with a qualifying chronic condition (C-SNP), or needing an institutional level of care (I-SNP).

The full table on this page lists every plan by carrier, its plan type, and its drug-coverage status. Use it as your starting map; use Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov for costs and benefits.

The carriers selling Medicare Advantage in Newark for 2027

In alphabetical order, here are the carriers on the 2027 Essex County roster and how many plans each offers. The table below has the full plan names.

• Aetna (CVS Health): 8 plans, in HMO and PPO, including 1 Special Needs Plan
• Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC): 1 plan, PPO
• Braven Health: 4 plans, all PPO
• Centene (WellCare): 6 plans, in HMO and HMO-POS, including 1 Special Needs Plan
• Clover Health: 6 plans, in HMO and PPO
• Elevance Health (Anthem): 3 plans, in HMO and HMO-POS, all 3 Special Needs Plans
• Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey: 1 plan, HMO, a Special Needs Plan
• Humana: 6 plans, in HMO and PPO, including 1 Special Needs Plan
• Longevity Health Plan: 2 plans, PPO, both Special Needs Plans
• UnitedHealthcare: 11 plans, in HMO, HMO-POS and PPO, including 2 Special Needs Plans

Being available in the county doesn't mean the plan fits your doctors, hospitals or medications. That's what the Plan Finder side of shopping is for.

How to read the plan types

HMO plans usually ask you to use in-network doctors and hospitals and to pick a primary care provider who coordinates referrals. HMO-POS ("point of service") plans work like an HMO but allow limited out-of-network care for certain services. PPO plans generally let you see out-of-network providers, though you'll often pay more when you do.

If you see "D-SNP," "C-SNP" or "I-SNP" next to a plan name in the table — for example Aetna Medicare FIDE (HMO D-SNP), Wellpoint Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP), Horizon NJ TotalCare (HMO D-SNP) or UHC Nursing Home Plan EX-F003 (PPO I-SNP) — that plan is only for people who meet specific eligibility rules. Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor can tell you whether you qualify.

Program-level facts to know before you compare

These numbers apply to Medicare nationwide in 2027, not to any one plan:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge is $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027).
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone. Since 2025, Part D has three phases: deductible, initial coverage and catastrophic.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly bills instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy. It's optional and free to opt into.
• IRMAA (the income-based surcharge on Part B and Part D) starts above $109,000 in income for single filers in 2026.

How to decide, without getting lost in the list

A useful order of operations:

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. Ask which Medicare Advantage plans they take for 2027 — networks change every year, even at the same carrier. 2. Then bring your medication list. On Plan Finder, enter every prescription and your preferred pharmacy. This is where two plans from the same carrier can look very different. 3. Consider how you want to use care. If you travel or split time between states, a PPO's out-of-network rules may matter to you. If you like one health system and one primary care office, an HMO may feel simpler. 4. Check whether you qualify for a Special Needs Plan. If you have both Medicare and Medicaid, or a qualifying condition, a SNP may be an option that a general shopper wouldn't see. 5. Mark the calendar. AEP runs October 15 through December 7, 2026 for 2027 coverage. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, the MA Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027 gives you one chance to switch.

The roster on this page is county-level availability drawn from the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. For premiums, copays, deductibles, drug tiers, star ratings and provider networks, use medicare.gov's Plan Finder or the plan's own Summary of Benefits and Evidence of Coverage.