Medicare Advantage

56 New Medicare Advantage Plans in Pennsylvania for 2027: The List

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's Medicare Advantage menu is getting a refresh for 2027. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files for the current and coming plan year, 56 of the 338 Medicare Advantage plans available in the state next year are brand new — meaning they were not offered to Pennsylvanians for 2026. The plans come from a mix of national carriers and regional names, and because Medicare Advantage is sold county by county, a plan listed on the statewide tally may or may not show up when you type your ZIP code into the Medicare Plan Finder.

How many plans are new, and which carriers are offering them

The 56 new plans are spread across 12 carriers. Aetna (CVS Health), Capital Blue Cross and Devoted Health are each adding 10 new plans for 2027. UPMC for Life is adding 7, and UPMC for Life Complete Care is adding 4. Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield or Highmark Blue Shield has 4 new plans on the list; Humana and UnitedHealthcare each have 3; Provider Partners Health Plans has 2; and Geisinger Gold, Independence Blue Cross and Jefferson Health Plans each have 1.

The new plans include a mix of HMO, HMO-POS, PPO, and Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs for people with qualifying chronic conditions, D-SNPs for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, and I-SNPs for people living in certain institutional settings). All of the plans on the new-for-2027 list include drug coverage.

The complete carrier-by-carrier and plan-by-plan breakdown is rendered as tables on this page, so you can scan it rather than reading a long list in prose.

New plans with the widest county reach

A few of the new plans are being offered across a large footprint. Geisinger Gold Preferred Balance Rx (PPO) is listed in 44 counties. UHC Complete Care Support PA-1A (HMO-POS C-SNP), from UnitedHealthcare, appears on the new-for-2027 list in 36 counties under one entry and in 31 counties under another.

Humana Dual Select H6622-103 (HMO D-SNP) and the new UPMC for Life Complete Care (HMO D-SNP) entry each reach 26 counties on the statewide list. Jefferson Health Plans Preferred (PPO) is new in 20 counties. On the Devoted Health side, DEVOTED C-SNP GIVEBACK EXTRAS 028 PA and DEVOTED GIVEBACK EXTRAS 032 PA each show an 18-county footprint, and the two Provider Partners Pennsylvania I-SNPs — the Community Plan and the Essential Plan — are each listed in 18 counties.

Highmark's Complete Blue PPO Merit (PPO) is new in 15 counties under one listing, and HumanaChoice – Diabetes and Heart (PPO C-SNP) is new in 19 counties. Those are the widest-reaching among the newcomers; many other new plans serve smaller clusters of counties, and some appear in only one.

What "new" actually means

A plan that is new for 2027 does not yet have a Star Rating or a track record in Pennsylvania. Medicare Star Ratings are built from data a plan accumulates over time — things like member experience, customer service, and clinical measures — and a brand-new contract or plan simply has not had the opportunity to generate that history yet. That is a fact of how CMS assigns ratings, not a judgment about the plan's quality. If Star Ratings are something you weigh when you shop, you'll want to factor that in.

Making sure a new plan actually fits your situation

Three questions matter most once you've spotted a new plan you're curious about:

1. Is it offered in your county? The statewide list counts each plan once, but Medicare Advantage is sold at the county level. A plan listed in 5 counties statewide may or may not be sold in yours. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov will show you only the plans available at your address.

2. Are your doctors and hospitals in the network? HMO and HMO-POS plans typically use a defined network; PPOs usually allow out-of-network care at a different cost share. The only reliable way to confirm a specific provider is in network for 2027 is to check the plan's own provider directory and, if you can, call the provider's billing office directly.

3. Are your prescriptions on the formulary at a cost you can plan around? Every new plan on the 2027 list includes drug coverage, but formularies and tiers differ. Enter each of your medications into the Plan Finder, or request the plan's formulary document, before you enroll.

What to do before December 7

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 – December 7, 2026. Any Medicare Advantage choice you make during that window takes effect January 1, 2027. A short checklist for the weeks ahead:

• Make a list of your current doctors, specialists, hospitals, and prescriptions, with dosages.
• Pull up medicare.gov's Plan Finder with your ZIP code to see which plans — new or returning — are actually sold in your county.
• For any plan on your short list, request or download the Summary of Benefits and the Evidence of Coverage.
• Confirm providers directly with the plan or the provider's office.
• Save the plan name, contract and plan ID, and the date and name of anyone you spoke with.

Where to get free help

You don't have to make this decision alone, and you don't have to pay anyone to help you compare plans. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code, doctors, and prescriptions and see the plans available where you live. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), which is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to ask questions about enrollment periods, plan options, and how Medicare works.