Medicare Advantage

Buffalo's 2027 Medicare Advantage menu: 11 carriers, 57 plans, sorted by company

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 shoppers comparing Medicare Advantage for 2027 have a lot to sift through. Buffalo is in Erie County, where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lists 57 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 carriers for the 2027 plan year. Every one of those plans includes prescription drug coverage. This guide walks through what is on offer, carrier by carrier, so you can see the shape of the market before you start comparing details on Medicare.gov.

How the Buffalo market looks for 2027

Erie County's 70 Medicare Advantage plans come from 11 carriers. By plan type, CMS counts 27 HMOs, 18 HMO-POS plans, 21 PPOs and 4 PFFS plans. Twenty-four of the 70 are Special Needs Plans, which are built for people with specific situations — being dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, living with certain chronic conditions, or needing an institutional level of care.

There are no stand-alone Part D drug plans listed as available separately in this data set for the county, but every Medicare Advantage plan on the roster includes drug coverage built in.

The carriers offering Medicare Advantage in Erie County

Below is each carrier and how many plans it offers in the county for 2027. The table further down this page lists every plan by name, with its plan type and drug-coverage status.

• Aetna (CVS Health): 7 plans (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO; 3 Special Needs Plans)
• Centene (WellCare): 16 plans (HMO, HMO-POS, PFFS, PPO; 4 Special Needs Plans)
• Excellus Health Plan Community Care LLC: 2 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs Plans)
• Excellus Health Plan, Inc: 7 plans (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO)
• Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield or Highmark Blue Shield: 8 plans (HMO, PPO)
• Humana: 5 plans (HMO, PPO; 2 Special Needs Plans)
• Independent Health: 7 plans (HMO, PPO; 2 Special Needs Plans)
• MVP Health Care: 3 plans (HMO-POS, PPO)
• Nascentia Health Plus: 3 plans (HMO; 3 Special Needs Plans)
• UnitedHealthcare: 9 plans (HMO-POS, PPO; 6 Special Needs Plans)
• VNS Health Medicare: 3 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs Plans)

You will notice both Excellus Health Plan Community Care LLC and Excellus Health Plan, Inc appear separately; Excellus's Medicare products in Buffalo are sold under the Univera Medicare brand. Highmark's plans in this area include the Community Blue, Senior Blue, Forever Blue and Freedom Valor lines.

What the plan types mean

The alphabet soup matters when you compare plans:

• HMO plans usually ask you to use in-network providers and get referrals to see specialists.
• HMO-POS (Point of Service) plans are HMOs that let you go out of network for some services, often at a higher cost.
• PPO plans give you more flexibility to see out-of-network providers, typically at a higher share of the cost.
• PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service) plans set their own payment terms with providers, and any provider who agrees to those terms and accepts you as a patient can treat you.
• SNP stands for Special Needs Plan. You must meet eligibility rules — dual eligibility with Medicaid (D-SNP), a qualifying chronic condition (C-SNP), or institutional-level care needs (I-SNP).

How to decide, without getting overwhelmed

Seventy plans is a lot to weigh. A few practical filters can shrink the list fast:

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. Ask which Medicare Advantage plans they take for 2027. Networks change year to year. 2. List your prescriptions. Every Buffalo-area MA plan on the roster includes drug coverage, but formularies (the covered drug lists) and tiers differ. The Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov will show your total estimated drug costs by plan when you enter your medications. 3. Consider the plan type. If you travel or want out-of-network flexibility, a PPO or PFFS may feel different from an HMO. 4. Check your SNP eligibility. If you have Medicaid as well, a D-SNP may be worth a close look. If you have a qualifying chronic condition, a C-SNP might fit. 5. Look at total costs, not just the premium. Deductibles, copays, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximums all shape what you actually pay.

2027 program facts worth knowing

A few Medicare rules changed or reset for 2027 and apply no matter which plan you pick:

• The Part D annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drug costs is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap, or "donut hole," was eliminated in 2025; Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs out in monthly installments across the plan year if you choose to opt in.
• IRMAA surcharges — the higher-income adjustments to Part B and Part D premiums — begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Enrollment dates to circle

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 through December 7, 2026. This is when most people join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 through March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare (and add a Part D plan) once during this window.

Where to look up plan details

The table below lists every 2027 Medicare Advantage plan available in Erie County, with each plan's name, type and drug-coverage status, drawn from the CMS MA Landscape Source File. Compared with 2026, 46 plans continue, 11 are new, 21 are not returning, 3 have been renamed, and 15 continuing plans have changed something in their terms (see each plan's ANOC for details). For premiums, deductibles, copays, provider networks, drug formularies and star ratings, go straight to the source:

• Medicare.gov Plan Finder — enter your ZIP code and drug list to compare plans side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — 24/7 help from Medicare directly.
• New York's SHIP (HIICAP) — free, unbiased one-on-one counseling from trained volunteers. In Erie County, HIICAP counselors can help you compare options without trying to sell you anything.