Medicare Advantage

Raleigh's 2027 Medicare Advantage menu: 9 carriers, 48 plans, one table

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.

If you live in Raleigh and you're sorting through Medicare Advantage options for 2027, the first question is usually the simplest: what's actually for sale here? This article answers that. Raleigh is in Wake County, and county-level filings with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show 48 Medicare Advantage plans from 9 carriers available for the 2027 plan year. The full list — every plan by carrier, its plan type, and whether it includes drug coverage — is in the table below.

What's on the Raleigh menu for 2027

The table below lists every Medicare Advantage plan available in Wake County for 2027, grouped by carrier in alphabetical order. Here is how the count shakes out:

• Aetna (CVS Health): 7 plans
• Alignment Health Plan: 7 plans
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina: 8 plans
• Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC): 8 plans
• Centene (WellCare): 9 plans
• Experience Health: 1 plan
• Humana: 18 plans
• Liberty Medicare Advantage: 3 plans
• Longevity Health Plan: 1 plan
• PruittHealth Premier: 1 plan
• UnitedHealthcare: 14 plans

Every one of these 77 plans includes prescription drug coverage (an "MA-PD" plan). There are no stand-alone Part D drug plans listed in the county data used for this article, so if you want drug coverage and you're going the Medicare Advantage route, it will come built in.

How the plan types differ

You'll see three plan types on the Raleigh list, and the difference matters more than the name suggests.

• HMO (28 plans in Wake County): You generally pick a primary care doctor and stay in the plan's network, except for emergencies. Examples on the list include Aetna Medicare Signature (HMO), Blue Medicare Choice (HMO) and Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO).
• HMO-POS (21 plans): An HMO with a "point-of-service" option that lets you go outside the network for certain services, usually at a higher cost. Blue Medicare Enhanced (HMO-POS) and several AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC plans are HMO-POS.
• PPO (28 plans): More flexibility to see out-of-network providers, typically at higher cost-sharing. Aetna Medicare Signature (PPO), Blue Medicare Freedom+ (PPO) and Wellcare Simple Open (PPO) are examples.

None of that tells you which plan is right for you — that depends on your doctors, your drugs and your budget. It just tells you what the label means.

Special Needs Plans in Wake County

Of the 77 plans on offer, 30 are Special Needs Plans. SNPs are Medicare Advantage plans built for people who meet certain conditions:

• D-SNPs are for people with both Medicare and Medicaid. The Raleigh list includes plans like Aetna Medicare Dual (HMO D-SNP), Healthy Blue + Medicare (HMO-POS D-SNP), Wellcare Dual Access (HMO-POS D-SNP) and UHC Dual Complete NC-D001 (HMO-POS D-SNP).
• C-SNPs are for people with certain chronic conditions. Alignment Health Heart & Diabetes Care (HMO C-SNP), Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP) and Liberty Medicare Advantage (HMO C-SNP) are on the county list.
• I-SNPs are for people who live in a nursing home or need a nursing-home level of care. Longevity Health Plan (HMO I-SNP), PruittHealth Premier (HMO I-SNP) and UHC Nursing Home Plan NC-F001 (PPO I-SNP) are examples.

You have to qualify to enroll in an SNP, and the plan can end your membership if you no longer meet the eligibility rules.

How to use this list to decide

The roster tells you what exists. Your decision usually comes down to a few practical checks:

1. Your doctors and hospitals. Call each provider or use the plan's directory to confirm they're in-network for the specific plan you're eyeing. 2. Your prescriptions. Every plan in the county includes drug coverage, but each has its own formulary. Plug your medications into Medicare's Plan Finder to see how each plan treats them. 3. Your travel patterns. If you spend chunks of the year outside North Carolina, a PPO usually behaves differently than an HMO out of area. 4. The total cost, not just the premium. Look at premiums, deductibles, copays and the out-of-pocket maximum together.

A few Part D rules are worth keeping in mind for 2027 no matter which plan you pick: the Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four. If your drug costs are heavy in certain months, you can also ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads them out over the year.

Dates to keep on your fridge

• October 15 – December 7: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, with coverage starting January 1.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to another one or go back to Original Medicare (and add a Part D plan).

Star Ratings, published by CMS, are one more piece of information you'll see on Plan Finder. They rate how contracts perform on things like customer service and care quality. They're a data point, not a verdict, and the star of one plan doesn't tell you how a different plan will work for your situation.