Medicare Advantage

Before you pick a Medicare Advantage plan in New York City: how the choices break down for 2027

New York County has 61 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 20 plans are not coming back, 6 are new, and 13 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 New York City, not which plan to pick.

Medicare AdvantageNew York City, NY

New York City sits inside New York County, and that county line matters more than most people realize when it comes to Medicare Advantage. Plans are approved and sold county by county, so the menu you see depends on where you live. For 2027, New York County residents can look at 59 Medicare Advantage plans from 15 different carriers — and those plans come in several different shapes, each with its own rules for using doctors and hospitals.

Before you compare premiums or extra benefits, it helps to understand what kind of plan you are actually looking at. That is what this guide is about.

What is on the menu in New York County

New York City is in New York County, where CMS lists 59 Medicare Advantage plans for the 2027 plan year. Every one of them includes Part D prescription drug coverage, which is common in big-city markets.

There are no stand-alone Part D drug plans listed for the county in this data set, so most people who want drug coverage will get it bundled inside a Medicare Advantage plan or through Original Medicare paired with a separate Part D plan sold across the state.

Fifteen carriers offer Medicare Advantage plans in the county for 2027. In alphabetical order, they are: Aetna (CVS Health), Centene (WellCare), Elderplan, ElderServe Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), EmblemHealth, Hamaspik, Healthfirst Medicare Plan, Humana, Longevity Health Plan, MetroPlus Health Plan, Senior Whole Health of New York, UnitedHealthcare, VillageCareMAX and VNS Health Medicare. Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC) is not offering plans in the county for 2027. Of the 2026 lineup, 53 plans continue, 6 are new, 20 are not returning and 2 have been renamed; 11 continuing plans change something in their terms, spelled out in each plan's Annual Notice of Change. The number of plans each carrier offers ranges from a single plan to a dozen — the table below has the full breakdown.

HMO vs. HMO-POS vs. PPO: what actually changes for you

The letters after a plan name tell you how the network works. That is the biggest practical difference for most people.

• HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). You pick a primary care doctor, generally need a referral to see a specialist, and you use the plan's in-network providers. Out-of-network care is usually only covered in an emergency. Most of the county's plans — 39 of them — are HMOs.
• HMO-POS (Point of Service). An HMO with a limited "point of service" option to see certain out-of-network providers, often at a higher cost. New York County has 20 of these.
• PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). More flexible. You can see out-of-network doctors, usually at a higher cost share, without a referral. There are 16 PPO options in the county.
• PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service). A separate MA plan type where the plan sets the payment terms and any provider who accepts those terms can treat you. No PFFS plans are listed for New York County for 2027, but you may see them in other parts of the state.

None of these is automatically better than the others. If you travel a lot or split time between boroughs and a second home upstate, the flexibility of a PPO may matter. If you already have a primary care doctor in a big city network, an HMO can work fine and often costs less in premium.

Special Needs Plans: 40 of the 75

New York County has an unusually rich set of Special Needs Plans. Of the 75 MA plans available, 40 are SNPs. These are Medicare Advantage plans built for people in a specific situation, and you have to qualify to enroll:

• D-SNP (Dual Eligible). For people who have both Medicare and Medicaid.
• C-SNP (Chronic Condition). For people with certain chronic conditions the plan is designed around.
• I-SNP (Institutional). For people who live in a nursing home or need a nursing-home level of care at home.

You will see these labels in plan names throughout the table below — for example, D-SNP plans from carriers like EmblemHealth, Healthfirst, MetroPlus, UnitedHealthcare and VNS Health, and I-SNP options from Elderplan, ElderServe, Longevity Health Plan and others. If you think you might qualify for one of these, that is worth looking into first, because SNPs are often built around the specific supports those members use most.

Program facts to keep in mind for 2027

A few Medicare-wide numbers shape any Advantage decision, no matter which carrier you look at:

• Part D has an out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs of $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered prescriptions for the rest of the year.
• The Part D deductible can be up to $615 in 2026 and up to $700 in 2027 (plans can set it lower).
• The old coverage gap, or "donut hole," was eliminated in 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments, at no extra charge, if you opt in.
• IRMAA — the income-related surcharge on Part B and Part D — kicks in above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026 (higher thresholds for joint filers).

These figures apply program-wide. Individual plan premiums, copays and networks vary, which is why the plan-by-plan table is only a starting place — the real comparison happens on Medicare.gov or with a licensed advisor who can pull your prescriptions and doctors.

How to actually decide

A workable order of operations for most New York City residents:

1. Decide whether you want the freedom of Original Medicare (often paired with a Medigap policy and a stand-alone Part D plan) or the bundled approach of Medicare Advantage. 2. If you lean Advantage, check whether you may qualify for a Special Needs Plan — that narrows the list quickly. 3. Choose a network style — HMO, HMO-POS or PPO — that matches how you actually use care. 4. Then, and only then, compare specific plans on drug coverage, provider networks and total expected costs using the Medicare Plan Finder.

Key dates

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Annual Enrollment Period. You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for coverage starting Jan. 1.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you are already in an MA plan, you get one chance to switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare.
• Special Enrollment Periods may apply if you move, lose other coverage, or qualify for Medicaid or Extra Help.