Medicare Advantage

UnitedHealthcare's 2027 Medicare Advantage plans in Raleigh: how to check yours before Dec. 7

Raleigh, N.C. — Fall 2026. UnitedHealthcare will offer 13 Medicare Advantage plans in Wake County for 2027, down from 14 this year, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. Two of the plans are new, three are not returning, and three have been renamed. If you are on a UnitedHealthcare plan now, the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) that arrived in September spells out what is changing for your plan on January 1 — and the window to switch runs through December 7, 2026.

This article walks through the UnitedHealthcare lineup in the county Raleigh sits in, plan by plan, so you can see what is on the shelf before you check it against your own doctors and prescriptions. MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer site and is not UnitedHealthcare; eight other carriers also sell Medicare Advantage plans in Wake County for 2027, for a county total of 63 plans.

What UnitedHealthcare is offering in Wake County for 2027

The table below lists every UnitedHealthcare plan available in Wake County for the 2027 plan year, with plan type and whether it includes drug coverage. The short version:

• 13 plans total, all with Part D drug coverage built in.
• By type: 8 HMO-POS plans and 5 PPO plans.
• Special Needs Plans: 7 of the 13, broken out as 5 Dual Eligible SNPs (for people with both Medicare and Medicaid), 1 Chronic Condition SNP, and 1 Institutional SNP.

The general-enrollment AARP-branded plans in Wake County for 2027 are AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC NC-0007 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC NC-0016 (PPO), AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC NC-0017 (PPO), AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC NC-15 (HMO-POS), AARP Medicare Advantage Giveback from UHC NC-14 (HMO-POS), and AARP Medicare Advantage Patriot No Rx NC-MA02 (HMO-POS).

The Special Needs Plans, and who they are for

Special Needs Plans are a specific flavor of Medicare Advantage. You can only join one if you meet its eligibility rules. UnitedHealthcare's 2027 SNPs in Wake County are:

• Dual Eligible SNPs (D-SNP) — for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid: UHC Dual Advantage NC-V1 (HMO-POS D-SNP), UHC Dual Complete NC-Q1 (PPO D-SNP), UHC Dual Complete NC-Q2 (HMO-POS D-SNP), UHC Dual Complete NC-S2 (PPO D-SNP), and UHC Dual Complete NC-S3 (HMO-POS D-SNP).
• Chronic Condition SNP (C-SNP) — for people with a qualifying chronic condition: UHC Complete Care NC-28 (HMO-POS C-SNP).
• Institutional SNP (I-SNP) — for people living in a nursing home or similar setting: UHC Nursing Home Plan NC-F001 (PPO I-SNP).

If you are not sure whether you qualify for one of these, Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov will filter them in or out based on your situation, and 1-800-MEDICARE can walk you through eligibility.

What is new, what is renamed, what is not returning

Comparing the CMS 2026 and 2027 Landscape Source Files for Wake County, here is how UnitedHealthcare's lineup shifts:

• New for 2027: UHC Dual Complete NC-Q2 (HMO-POS D-SNP) and UHC Dual Complete NC-S3 (HMO-POS D-SNP).
• Renamed (same contract, new name): AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC NC-15 (HMO-POS), formerly NC-0015; UHC Dual Advantage NC-V1 (HMO-POS D-SNP), formerly UHC Dual Complete NC-V001; and UHC Dual Complete NC-Q1 (PPO D-SNP), formerly UHC Dual Complete NC-S001.
• Not returning: three UnitedHealthcare plans sold in Wake County in 2026 are not on the 2027 list. If one of them is yours, UnitedHealthcare was required to send you a non-renewal notice; it will tell you your options and when your current coverage ends.

A rename is not the same thing as a change in benefits. The ANOC is still the document that tells you what is actually different about your coverage next year.

How to check a plan against your doctors and prescriptions

Before you pick, keep or switch anything, run the same two checks for each plan on your short list:

1. Doctors and hospitals. Look up the plan's provider directory on UnitedHealthcare's site, or use the "Find care" tool inside Medicare Plan Finder. If a specialist or hospital is important to you, call their billing office and ask whether they will be in-network for that specific plan in 2027 — networks can change at the start of a plan year. 2. Prescriptions. On medicare.gov, enter your drugs, doses and preferred pharmacy. Plan Finder will show each plan's drug costs across the year, which pharmacies are preferred, and whether any of your drugs need prior authorization or step therapy.

Two program-level numbers to keep in mind as you compare drug coverage: in 2027 the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge rises to $700 (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 those in the fall.

The dates that matter

• October 15 – December 7, 2026: Annual Enrollment Period. Any change you make now takes effect January 1, 2027.
• January 1, 2027: new coverage begins. If you did nothing and your plan is still offered, it renews with the changes in your ANOC.
• January 1 – March 31, 2027: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance in this window to switch to a different MA plan or go back to Original Medicare.

If one of UnitedHealthcare's non-returning plans is yours, you also get a Special Enrollment Period that runs into early 2027 — the non-renewal letter explains the dates.