Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in Pennsylvania Medicare Advantage for 2027: 50 Leaving, 131 Changing

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's Medicare Advantage shelf looks a little different for the 2027 plan year, and every county in the commonwealth will feel some version of the shift. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Advantage Landscape files for contract years 2026 and 2027, the state goes from 332 Medicare Advantage plans offered in 2026 to 338 offered in 2027. Underneath that near-flat headline is a lot of movement: 50 plans are leaving, 131 are changing in at least one county, 56 are brand new, and 151 are continuing unchanged.

Here is what Pennsylvania members need to know before the Annual Enrollment Period closes on December 7, 2026.

What the statewide numbers mean

CMS publishes a Landscape file every fall listing the Medicare Advantage plans available in each county for the coming plan year. Comparing the 2026 and 2027 files side by side, Pennsylvania moves from 332 plans to 338 plans overall, counting each plan once statewide no matter how many counties it serves.

Within that total, CMS's own file definitions tell the story:

• Leaving means a plan was offered somewhere in Pennsylvania for 2026 and is offered nowhere in the state for 2027. That's 50 plans.
• Changing means a plan is offered in both years, but at least one county's listing differs on premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name. That's 131 plans. The change could be small or large; the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your plan mails you in September is where the specifics live.
• New for 2027 means a plan appears in the 2027 file that was not in the 2026 file. That's 56 plans.
• Continuing unchanged means the plan appears in both years with the same premium, drug deductible, plan type, and name in every county it serves. That's 151 plans.

Every one of Pennsylvania's 67 counties has at least one plan either leaving or changing.

If your plan is leaving

If you are enrolled in one of the 50 plans leaving Pennsylvania for 2027, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice. Two things happen next.

First, you get a Special Enrollment Period that runs through the end of February 2027. That gives you time past the normal December 7 deadline to pick a new Medicare Advantage plan or move to Original Medicare with or without a stand-alone Part D drug plan.

Second, if you do nothing, you do not keep that plan — it will not exist. Depending on how your carrier handles the non-renewal, you may be returned to Original Medicare without drug coverage. Read the notice carefully, and don't assume coverage carries over automatically.

If your plan is changing

If your plan is one of the 131 that are offered in both years but differ in at least one county, you will receive an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) from your carrier, typically in September. The ANOC is the official document that lays out exactly what is different for 2027 compared to 2026 in your county — premium, drug deductible, plan type, plan name, or any combination.

The CMS file tells us a change exists; it does not tell us whether the change is meaningful to you. That's what the ANOC is for. If you do nothing, you stay enrolled in the renewing plan with the 2027 terms described in that notice. There is no automatic switch, and no action is required to remain enrolled — but reading the ANOC is the only way to know what you're staying in.

Counties with the most listed change

Every Pennsylvania county has at least one plan leaving or changing. Among the counties called out in the CMS year-over-year comparison:

• Lancaster County: 16 leaving, 38 changing
• York County: 17 leaving, 37 changing
• Bucks County: 18 leaving, 35 changing
• Cumberland County: 16 leaving, 37 changing
• Lebanon County: 15 leaving, 38 changing
• Lehigh County: 14 leaving, 39 changing
• Northampton County: 15 leaving, 38 changing
• Dauphin County: 16 leaving, 36 changing

These counts reflect plan listings in CMS's county-level file, not member counts.

What to do before December 7

A short checklist for the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 – December 7, 2026:

1. Open your mail. Look specifically for the ANOC (if your plan is renewing) or a non-renewal notice (if your plan is leaving). 2. Confirm your doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies are still in network for 2027. Networks can change even when a plan is listed as unchanged in the Landscape file. 3. Check your prescriptions on the 2027 formulary. Drug lists are set plan-by-plan each year. 4. Compare before you commit. With 56 plans new for 2027 and 131 changing, the market in your county may not look the way it did last fall. 5. Make your choice by December 7, 2026 for a January 1, 2027 effective date — unless you have the Special Enrollment Period from a non-renewal, in which case you have through the end of February 2027.

Where to get free help

You do not have to sort this out alone, and you do not have to pay anyone to help you.

• Medicare.gov — the official Plan Finder lets you enter your ZIP code, drugs, and pharmacies and compare 2027 plans available in your county.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — available 24/7 for questions about your current coverage and your options.
• Pennsylvania SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) — free, unbiased, one-on-one Medicare counseling from trained local counselors. Pennsylvania's SHIP is known as APPRISE.