Medicare Advantage

Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans in Raleigh for 2027: the full C-SNP list

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. If you live with a condition like diabetes or heart disease and get your Medicare in and around Raleigh, you have a specific slice of the Medicare Advantage market to look at this enrollment season: Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans, or C-SNPs. For plan year 2027, Wake County — the county Raleigh sits in — has 5 C-SNPs on offer from 4 carriers, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for 2027.

That number is small on purpose. C-SNPs are built around a qualifying diagnosis, so they are not open to the general Medicare population. Here is who is offering one in Wake County next year, how a C-SNP actually works, and the enrollment window that applies when a chronic condition is involved.

The C-SNPs available in Wake County for 2027

Five C-SNPs are being offered in Wake County for 2027, out of 63 Medicare Advantage plans overall. The table below lists every plan; the C-SNPs, in alphabetical order by carrier, are:

• Alignment Health Plan — Alignment Health Heart & Diabetes 011 (HMO C-SNP), with drug coverage (renamed; was Alignment Health Heart & Diabetes Care)
• Alignment Health Plan — Alignment Health Heart & Diabetes Plus 009 (HMO-POS C-SNP), with drug coverage (renamed; was Alignment Health Heart & Diabetes NCPlus)
• Humana — Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP), with drug coverage
• Liberty Medicare Advantage — Liberty Medicare Advantage (HMO C-SNP), with drug coverage
• UnitedHealthcare — UHC Complete Care NC-28 (HMO-POS C-SNP), with drug coverage

Two of those plans — the Alignment Health C-SNPs — are renamed for 2027. The plan itself continues; the Annual Notice of Change your carrier mails each fall explains any coverage or cost changes alongside the new name.

For context, Wake County also has 18 Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, and 5 Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) for people living in nursing homes or needing that level of care. Those are different programs with different eligibility rules.

How a C-SNP actually works

A Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan is a Medicare Advantage plan — so it replaces Original Medicare for the people enrolled in it, and in Wake County every C-SNP for 2027 includes Part D drug coverage. What makes it a "special needs" plan is that enrollment is limited to people who have a specific chronic condition the plan is designed around.

CMS lets C-SNPs serve 15 defined chronic conditions, including diabetes, chronic heart failure and cardiovascular disorders, chronic lung disorders, end-stage renal disease and others. A single plan can target one condition or a group of related ones. You can tell from a plan's name only what the name itself says — for example, the Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart plan states its focus on diabetes and heart conditions. For every other plan, check the Evidence of Coverage or the Medicare Plan Finder for the exact condition list.

The idea behind the design is a narrower network, a drug formulary and extra benefits built around people living with that condition — things like care coordination or disease-management support. We can't quote specific benefits, costs or networks here; those live in each plan's own documents.

You need a provider to confirm the diagnosis

The piece that trips people up: you can't just say you have the condition. To enroll in a C-SNP, Medicare requires the plan to verify your qualifying diagnosis with your doctor or other treating provider, usually within a set time after you sign up. The plan will typically send a form your provider fills out and returns.

If the diagnosis is not confirmed, the plan has to disenroll you. So before you apply, it's worth a quick call to your doctor's office to flag that a verification form may be coming.

The Special Enrollment Period for a qualifying condition

Most people change Medicare Advantage plans during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 – December 7, 2026, with the new plan starting January 1, 2027. That window applies to C-SNPs too.

But people with a qualifying chronic condition also get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) tied to the condition itself. In practice, that means you can generally enroll in a C-SNP outside the fall window once your diagnosis is confirmed, without waiting for next October. The SEP has its own rules — including when it ends, and what happens if you later no longer meet the condition criteria — so confirm the specifics for your situation with the plan or with 1-800-MEDICARE before you switch.

If you're already in a C-SNP and happy with it, you don't have to do anything in the fall. Your plan renews under the terms in its 2027 Annual Notice of Change.

What else to know for the 2027 plan year

A few program-level numbers that apply to everyone in Medicare, not just C-SNP enrollees:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026.
• The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, had not been announced as of this writing; CMS typically publishes them later in the fall.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments, continues to be an option on any Part D or Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage.

Across Wake County overall, 19 Medicare Advantage plans are not returning for 2027, 5 are new, and 15 are renamed. If your plan is one of those, your carrier is required to tell you — read the notice carefully rather than toss it with the junk mail.