Medicare Advantage

Before you renew in Raleigh: a step-by-step way to weigh your 2027 Medicare Advantage choices

People in Raleigh can choose from 63 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 77 this year. 19 of this year’s plans are gone, 5 are new to Wake County, and 35 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 15 of them under a new name.

Raleigh, N.C. — Fall 2026. The Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 Medicare coverage is open from October 15 through December 7, 2026, and if you live in or around Raleigh, this is the stretch when it pays to slow down and compare. Raleigh sits in Wake County, where CMS lists 63 Medicare Advantage plans from 9 carriers for 2027 — a shift from the 77 plans and 11 carriers offered in 2026. Five plans are new for next year, 19 are not returning, and some that are returning have been renamed.

If you do nothing by December 7, your current plan rolls over into 2027 — as long as it is still offered — with whatever changes are spelled out in its Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). That is why opening the ANOC and doing a side-by-side check matters this fall.

What Raleigh's 2027 lineup looks like

Plan availability is set at the county level, so these counts apply to Wake County, which includes Raleigh. For 2027, CMS lists:

• 63 Medicare Advantage plans
• 9 carriers
• 18 HMO, 22 HMO-POS, 23 PPO
• 28 Special Needs Plans (18 D-SNP for people with both Medicare and Medicaid; 5 C-SNP for certain chronic conditions; 5 I-SNP for people in nursing homes or similar settings)
• All 63 plans include prescription drug coverage

The carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans in Wake County for 2027, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health), Alignment Health Plan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Centene (WellCare), Humana, Liberty Medicare Advantage, Longevity Health Plan, PruittHealth Premier, and UnitedHealthcare. The table on this page lists each plan by carrier.

What is new, renamed or leaving for 2027

Three things are worth knowing before you start:

• 5 new plans are being added in Wake County for 2027.
• 19 plans are not returning. If yours is one of them, your carrier is required to notify you, and you have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan.
• Several plans have been renamed. The plan ID stays the same, but the name on your mail may not match last year's. The ANOC will say so directly.

Program-wide, two 2027 Part D numbers are already confirmed: the out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum Part D deductible a plan may charge rises to $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not been announced yet; CMS typically publishes them in November.

A step-by-step way to compare

You do not need to read 63 plan brochures. Work through the same five checks for any plan you are considering.

1. Start with your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Your current plan mailed it in September. It shows what is changing on January 1 — premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, extra benefits, and whether your plan is being renamed, consolidated or discontinued. If nothing in it bothers you, you may not need to switch at all.

2. Check your doctors and hospitals. For an HMO, you generally must use in-network providers (except emergencies). HMO-POS allows some out-of-network use. PPOs let you go out of network, usually at a higher cost. Call the plan to confirm your primary care doctor, specialists, and preferred hospital — Duke Raleigh, WakeMed, UNC Rex, or wherever you go — are in network for the plan year you are enrolling in, not just today.

3. Enter every prescription. On the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, type in each drug, dose and frequency. The tool will show which plans cover each one, what tier it sits on, and the estimated yearly out-of-pocket cost under each plan. This is usually where plans separate from each other.

4. Check your pharmacy. Plans have "preferred" and "standard" pharmacies, and the price of the same drug can differ depending on which you use. If you fill at a specific Walgreens, CVS, Harris Teeter, Costco or mail-order service, make sure it is a preferred pharmacy for the plan you are picking.

5. Match the plan type to how you want to use care. HMO, HMO-POS and PPO are not better or worse than each other — they are different trade-offs between network flexibility and cost. If you travel often or split time between Raleigh and another state, how a plan handles out-of-area care matters.

If you qualify for Medicaid, have a chronic condition like diabetes or heart failure, or live in a nursing facility, ask specifically about the Special Needs Plans in your situation — Wake County has 28 of them for 2027.

Using the Medicare Plan Finder

The Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare is the official tool and the one to trust for pricing and drug coverage. Create or sign in to your Medicare account so your current plan and drug list are already saved. You can:

• Filter by plan type (HMO, HMO-POS, PPO) and by Special Needs Plan.
• Add your drugs and pharmacies once and compare across plans.
• See each plan's star rating (CMS's measure of plan quality on things like customer service and care coordination).
• Save up to three plans side by side.

If you would rather talk to a person, call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), available 24/7.

If you do nothing

Doing nothing is a choice, and sometimes the right one. If your plan is returning for 2027 and the ANOC changes do not affect your doctors, drugs or budget, your coverage renews automatically on January 1, 2027. If your plan is one of the 19 not returning in Wake County, you will get a non-renewal notice and should pick a new plan during AEP or your Special Enrollment Period. And if you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and change your mind, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 to March 31 lets you switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare once.