Medicare Advantage

Your 2027 ANOC in Greensboro: a step-by-step review before Dec. 7

Guilford County has 97 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 15 plans are not coming back, 14 are new, and 41 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 16 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Greensboro, not which plan to pick.

Greensboro, N.C. — October 2026. The envelope that landed in your mailbox in late September is the single most important piece of mail you will get this fall. It is your Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC, and it spells out exactly how your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan will look on January 1, 2027. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026 — that is the window to compare, switch, or stay put.

If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews with the changes listed in the ANOC. That is fine if the changes work for you. The point of this week is to find out whether they do.

What is the ANOC and why does it matter in Greensboro this fall?

The ANOC is a letter your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan is required to send every September. It compares what you have in 2026 to what you will have in 2027 — premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, extra benefits, and network rules. If your plan is leaving Greensboro or ending, that notice comes separately.

Read it with a pen in hand. Circle anything that changed. The point is not to panic over a change — plans adjust every year — but to decide whether the 2027 version still fits your life.

What should a Greensboro resident actually check before December 7, 2026?

Work through five things, in order, against the 2027 version of your plan:

1. Premium, deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. Compare the 2026 numbers in your ANOC to the 2027 numbers. For Part D specifically, the out-of-pocket cap is $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). 2. Your doctors. Call each provider's office or check the plan's 2027 online directory. Ask specifically: "Are you in-network for this plan in 2027?" Network lists can change on January 1. 3. Your hospital. Confirm Cone Health, Moses H. Cone Memorial, or whichever hospital you prefer is still contracted for 2027. 4. Your prescriptions. Pull up the plan's 2027 formulary (drug list). Check each medication — tier, prior authorization, step therapy, quantity limits. A drug that was Tier 2 this year can move to Tier 3 next year. 5. Your pharmacy. Preferred pharmacies often cost less than standard ones. Make sure yours is still preferred under the 2027 plan.

If any one of these breaks down, that is your signal to compare other plans before December 7.

How many Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Guilford County for 2027?

Greensboro is in Guilford County, where 98 Medicare Advantage plans from 12 carriers are available for the 2027 plan year, according to the CMS Landscape Source File. Of those, 38 are HMOs, 21 are HMO-POS, and 39 are PPOs. Eighty-six include drug coverage, and 38 are Special Needs Plans for people who qualify (dual-eligible, chronic condition, or institutional).

The 12 carriers serving the county are Aetna (CVS Health), Alignment Health Plan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, HealthTeam Advantage, Humana, Liberty Medicare Advantage, Longevity Health Plan, Provider Partners Health Plans, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan.

That is a lot of choice. You do not need to look at all 98. Narrow by plan type (HMO vs. PPO), whether you need drug coverage, and whether your doctors are in-network.

Where do I check my plan against the alternatives?

Four places do nearly all the work:

• The ANOC itself — for what is changing in the plan you already have.
• The Evidence of Coverage (EOC) — the long document that spells out every rule. The ANOC is the summary; the EOC is the contract.
• The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov — enter your ZIP code and your drug list and it will show every plan available in Guilford County, with 2027 costs once plans are loaded in October.
• 1-800-MEDICARE — 24/7, free, in English and Spanish. Call if the online tool is confusing or if you want someone to walk through a comparison with you.

The plan's own provider and pharmacy directories (on its website) are where you confirm doctors and pharmacies for 2027.

What happens if I miss December 7, 2026?

If you do nothing by December 7, your current plan renews on January 1, 2027 with the changes described in the ANOC. You are not uninsured, and nothing bad happens automatically — but you lose the chance to switch Medicare Advantage or Part D plans for the year.

There is one more window for people already in Medicare Advantage: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 – March 31, 2027. During those three months, you can switch to a different Advantage plan or drop back to Original Medicare. It does not let you join a Part D plan from scratch unless you qualify through another route.

A few 2027 figures are still pending. CMS typically announces the 2027 Part B standard premium, Part B deductible, and the IRMAA income brackets later in the fall (usually November). Watch medicare.gov for those.