Medicare Advantage

Before Dec. 7, Philadelphia Medicare shoppers: a 2027 ANOC review checklist

People in Philadelphia can choose from 98 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 97 this year. Twelve of this year’s plans are gone, 13 are new to Philadelphia County, and 39 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 9 of them under a new name.

PHILADELPHIA — The envelopes have started landing in mailboxes across Philadelphia. If you have a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) is the single most important piece of mail you will get this fall, and it is the starting point for every decision you make before the Annual Enrollment Period closes on December 7, 2026.

The ANOC tells you, line by line, how your current plan will change on January 1, 2027. If everything in it still works for you, you do not have to do anything — your plan renews automatically. If something no longer fits, this is the window to switch.

Start with the ANOC — and read the parts that cost you money

The Annual Notice of Change is a short document that compares your 2026 plan to the 2027 version of the same plan. You are not looking for a sales pitch; you are looking for differences.

Flip to the sections that show:

• the monthly premium for 2027
• the medical deductible and the drug deductible
• copays for primary care, specialists, urgent care and the emergency room
• the maximum out-of-pocket limit for the year
• the drug tiers and whether your pharmacy is still "preferred"
• any extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, over-the-counter, fitness) that are being added, trimmed, or dropped

If the ANOC is missing or lost, your plan has to send another copy. You can also pull next year's full details — called the Evidence of Coverage — from the plan's member website.

Check your doctors and hospitals for 2027

Networks change every year. A doctor who was in-network in 2026 may not be in 2027, and a Philadelphia hospital system you rely on may shift which plans it accepts.

Before December 7:

• Look up each of your doctors in your plan's 2027 provider directory, not the 2026 one.
• Confirm the hospital where you would want to be treated — Penn Medicine, Jefferson, Temple, Fox Chase, Einstein, CHOP for a covered dependent, or a community hospital — is listed as in-network for the 2027 plan.
• If you see specialists outside the city, check them too. HMO plans generally require in-network care except for emergencies; PPO plans allow out-of-network use at a higher cost.
• Call the doctor's office directly to confirm. Directories can lag behind real contracts.

Run your prescriptions against the 2027 formulary

Drug lists (formularies) are updated every year. A medication can move to a higher tier, require prior authorization, or come off the list entirely.

The quickest way to check is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter each prescription, the dose, and your preferred pharmacy. The tool shows the 2027 total cost — premium plus drug costs — for each plan available in your ZIP code.

Two 2027 numbers to keep in mind as you compare:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). Once your out-of-pocket drug spending hits that cap, you pay $0 for covered Part D drugs for the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Plans may charge less, but not more.

If you expect high drug costs, ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the year in monthly installments at no extra charge.

Know what's on the shelf in Philadelphia County

Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. Philadelphia is in Philadelphia County, where the 2026 landscape includes 97 Medicare Advantage plans from 17 carriers — 42 HMOs, 18 HMO-POS, 36 PPOs and 1 PFFS, with 31 Special Needs Plans among them. All 97 include drug coverage.

Carriers offering plans in the county include Aetna (CVS Health), Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Centene (WellCare), Clover Health, Devoted Health, Geisinger Gold, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield or Highmark Blue Shield, Highmark Wholecare Medicare Assured, Humana, Independence Blue Cross, Jefferson Health Plans, Perennial Advantage, Provider Partners Health Plans, UnitedHealthcare, UPMC for Life, UPMC for Life Complete Care, and VISTA Health Plan Inc. The table on this page lists every plan by carrier.

CMS publishes the official 2027 plan lineup in October, so if a plan you are considering is not in the county next year, Plan Finder will show you that when the new data loads.

A couple of 2027 figures CMS has not published yet

Two numbers readers often ask about are not out yet: the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges. CMS typically announces both later in the fall. Until then, use the 2026 figures as a rough reference — IRMAA surcharges for Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026 — but do not lock in a 2027 budget around 2026 numbers.

If you do nothing

Nothing bad happens automatically. If your plan is offered again in 2027, you stay in it with the changes described in your ANOC. If your plan is not being offered in Philadelphia County next year, your insurer must notify you, and you will get a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan.

If you do want to switch, you can:

• change Medicare Advantage plans
• move from Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage, or back
• join, drop, or change a stand-alone Part D plan

All of those changes must be made between October 15 and December 7, 2026, for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. Medicare Advantage members get one more chance between January 1 and March 31, 2027, during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.