Medicare Advantage

Allentown Medicare Plans 2027 — Lehigh County

Medicare in Allentown: Lehigh County had 103+ plan options for 2026; see each plan's ANOC and Plan Finder for 2027.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — If you are shopping for Medicare coverage this fall, you have a lot to sort through. Allentown is in Lehigh County, where 103 Medicare Advantage plans were available for 2026, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plan landscape data. The 2027 lineup is described in each plan's ANOC and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. For many local residents, that is a reason to slow down and compare carefully before the December 7 deadline.

How many Medicare plans are available in the Allentown area?

Medicare plan availability is set at the county level, not the city level. Because Allentown sits in Lehigh County, local residents share the same menu of options as their neighbors across the county.

For 2026, that menu includes:

• 103 Medicare Advantage plans offered in Lehigh County.
• 12 carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans that include prescription drug coverage (MA-PD).
• 0 stand-alone Part D plans listed in the county-level MA-PD landscape file. (Stand-alone Part D plans are sold on a separate regional basis; you can view the full list for Pennsylvania on Medicare.gov’s Plan Finder.)

With about 67,000 residents age 65 and older in Lehigh County, that is a lot of choice — and a lot to compare.

Why so many options?

Medicare Advantage (Part C) is offered by private insurance carriers that contract with Medicare. Carriers can offer several plans in the same county, each with different networks, drug lists, and extra benefits. That is why one carrier’s name may appear on the list many times.

More choice is a good thing, but it also means it pays to compare plans side by side rather than pick the first one you see in the mail.

What Star Ratings tell you (and what they don’t)

CMS publishes Star Ratings each year to measure the quality of Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts. Ratings range from 1 to 5 stars and cover things like customer service, member complaints, and how well plans manage chronic conditions.

In the Lehigh County landscape file for 2026, no contracts were rated 4 stars or higher. That does not mean plans in the area are unsafe or off-limits — ratings shift year to year, and a lower score in one measure can pull down an otherwise solid contract. Use Star Ratings as one piece of information alongside network, drug coverage, and total cost.

Key dates and rules for the 2027 plan year

A few program-level facts apply everywhere, including Allentown:

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7. This is when you can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for coverage starting January 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.
• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your covered drug spending hits that amount, you pay nothing for covered drugs for the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap (“donut hole”) is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

How to compare your options without getting overwhelmed

With 103 Medicare Advantage plans in the county, no one expects you to read every brochure. A simpler approach:

1. Start with your doctors and hospitals. Confirm they are in-network for any plan you consider. 2. List your prescriptions. Enter them into Medicare.gov’s Plan Finder to see how each plan covers them. 3. Look at total yearly cost, not just the monthly premium. Deductibles, copays, and drug costs all add up. 4. Ask for help. Pennsylvania’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program (called APPRISE) offers free, one-on-one counseling with no sales pressure.