Medicare Advantage

Before you renew in Buffalo: a plain walk-through for sizing up 2027 Medicare Advantage plans

Erie County has 60 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 21 plans are not coming back, 11 are new, and 18 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 3 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Buffalo, not which plan to pick.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The fall 2026 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period is open, and people on Medicare in and around Buffalo have until December 7, 2026 to pick, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan for 2027 coverage. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews next year — as long as it is still offered — with whatever changes are spelled out in its Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). The useful work this fall is not picking a "winner." It is checking, in order, whether next year's version of your plan still fits your doctors, your hospitals, your prescriptions and your pharmacy.

How many Medicare Advantage plans will Buffalo residents have in 2027?

Buffalo is in Erie County, where 60 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 carriers are offered for 2027, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. By plan type that is 27 HMO plans, 17 HMO-POS plans and 16 PPO plans. There are also 24 Special Needs Plans in the county for 2027 (16 D-SNP plans for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, 4 C-SNP plans tied to a chronic condition, and 4 I-SNP plans for people living in a nursing home or needing that level of care). Fifty-one of the 60 plans include Part D prescription drug coverage.

The county lost some options and gained others for 2027: 21 plans are not returning, 11 are new, and a few have been renamed. The full lineup, by carrier, appears in the table below.

Which carriers offer Medicare Advantage plans in Erie County for 2027?

Eleven carriers are selling Medicare Advantage plans in Erie County in 2027. In alphabetical order:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 9 plans (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO; 1 D-SNP)
• Centene (WellCare) — 10 plans (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO; 4 D-SNP)
• Excellus Health Plan Community Care LLC — 2 plans (HMO; 2 D-SNP)
• Excellus Health Plan, Inc — 5 plans (HMO, HMO-POS)
• Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield or Highmark Blue Shield — 6 plans (HMO, PPO)
• Humana — 3 plans (HMO, PPO; 1 D-SNP)
• Independent Health — 7 plans (HMO, PPO)
• MVP Health Care — 3 plans (HMO-POS)
• Nascentia Health Plus — 3 plans (HMO; 2 D-SNP)
• UnitedHealthcare — 9 plans (HMO-POS, PPO; 4 D-SNP)
• VNS Health Medicare — 3 plans (HMO; 2 D-SNP)

Every individual plan name is in the table below. We are not comparing premiums, copays, networks or ratings here — those vary by plan and by person, and the Medicare Plan Finder will show them for your situation.

What is new in Buffalo's Medicare Advantage lineup for 2027?

For 2027 in Erie County, 11 Medicare Advantage plans are new, 21 are not returning, and a handful have been renamed. If your plan is one of the 21 that will not be offered next year, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice this fall; you then have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan. If your plan is simply renaming or restructuring, that information is in your Annual Notice of Change.

Two program-level numbers are also changing for 2027 that affect anyone with Part D drug coverage, whether through a Medicare Advantage plan or a stand-alone drug plan:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026.

CMS has also announced the 2027 Part D national base beneficiary premium of $41.33, which is a formula input and not the premium any particular plan charges. The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not yet been announced; CMS typically publishes them later in the fall.

How should I compare 2027 Medicare Advantage plans in Buffalo step by step?

Work through the same five checks for every plan you are seriously considering, including the one you already have.

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Your current plan mailed or posted this document in late September. It is the single most useful piece of paper you have this fall, because it lists line by line what is changing for 2027: premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, extra benefits, and whether certain doctors or hospitals are leaving the network.

2. Check your doctors and hospitals. Call each provider's billing office and ask: "Will you be in-network for this specific plan in 2027?" Networks for Buffalo-area systems can change between years, and the plan directory should match what the office tells you. HMO plans generally require you to stay in-network except for emergencies; PPO plans let you go out-of-network at a higher cost; HMO-POS plans sit in between.

3. Enter every prescription into the Plan Finder. Go to medicare.gov/plan-compare, create or sign into your account, and type in each drug, dose and quantity. The tool will show, for every plan, whether the drug is covered, which tier it sits on, and the expected cost month by month. A plan that looks cheap on paper can be expensive once your medications are priced in — and vice versa.

4. Check your pharmacy. In the Plan Finder, pick your preferred pharmacy before you compare. Plans often have "preferred" pharmacies where drug costs are lower; a mail-order option may also change your costs. If you fill at a particular Buffalo pharmacy, make sure it is in the plan's network.

5. Look at Special Needs Plans if you qualify. If you have both Medicare and Medicaid, a chronic condition like diabetes or heart failure, or you live in a nursing facility, a D-SNP, C-SNP or I-SNP may be designed around your situation. Erie County has 16 D-SNPs, 4 C-SNPs and 4 I-SNPs for 2027.

What happens if I do nothing by December 7?

Nothing dramatic. If your 2026 plan is being offered again in 2027, you stay enrolled and the changes in your ANOC take effect January 1, 2027. If your plan is one of the 21 not returning in Erie County, you will get a non-renewal letter and a Special Enrollment Period to choose a new plan; Original Medicare will cover you in the meantime. Separately, if you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and change your mind, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 – March 31, 2027 lets you switch to another Advantage plan or back to Original Medicare once.