Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in Rhode Island Medicare Advantage for 2027: 1 Plans Leaving, 8 Changing

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Islanders on Medicare Advantage will see a slightly smaller menu of plans for the 2027 plan year, and most of the churn is in plans that are staying but filing updates. According to the federal Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files for CY2026 and CY2027, the state goes from 23 Medicare Advantage plans offered in 2026 to 22 for 2027, with 1 plan leaving the Rhode Island market, 8 continuing plans changing in at least one county, 0 brand-new plans, and 14 plans continuing unchanged.

Medicare AdvantageRhode Island

Every one of Rhode Island's 5 counties is touched by at least one plan leaving or changing. Here is what the numbers say, what they do not say, and the deadlines that matter during this fall's Annual Enrollment Period.

What the statewide numbers mean

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes a Landscape file each year that lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in each county. Comparing the CY2026 and CY2027 files side by side is how year-over-year changes get counted.

In CMS's bookkeeping, a plan is "leaving" a state when it was offered somewhere in that state for the current year and is offered nowhere in that state for the coming year. A plan is "changing" when it is offered in both years but differs — on premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name — in at least one county where it is sold. A plan is "continuing unchanged" when none of those fields moved in any county it serves.

For Rhode Island, counting each plan once statewide no matter how many counties it covers, the CY2026-to-CY2027 comparison shows:

• 23 plans offered for 2026, 22 for 2027
• 1 plan leaving the state for 2027
• 8 plans changing in at least one county
• 0 new plans for 2027
• 14 plans continuing unchanged

Because CMS flags a plan as "changing" when any one of those fields moves in any one county, the "changing" label is a signal to read your mail — not a verdict on whether the change is big or small.

If your plan is leaving

One plan offered in Rhode Island for 2026 will not be offered anywhere in the state for 2027. If you are enrolled in that plan, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice. Two things to know:

• You get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP). Members whose plans are not renewed have an SEP that runs through the end of February 2027 to pick a new Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare (and, if eligible, add a stand-alone Part D drug plan).
• Doing nothing has consequences. If a plan is non-renewed and you take no action, you are not automatically moved into an equivalent plan by CMS. You could end up back in Original Medicare without drug coverage. The SEP exists so you have time to choose on purpose.

You can still act during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7, 2026) for a January 1, 2027 effective date, and then use the SEP after that if you need more time.

If your plan is changing

Eight plans are continuing into 2027 but have at least one change on file in at least one Rhode Island county. The specifics live in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), the document your plan sends every fall — typically arriving in September — that spells out exactly what is different for the coming year compared with your current coverage.

If you do nothing, you stay enrolled in your plan and the ANOC's changes take effect on January 1, 2027. That is a legitimate choice, but it is a choice. The ANOC is the document that lets you make it with your eyes open. Read it next to your current Evidence of Coverage, and if anything that matters to you — your doctors, your pharmacies, your prescriptions, how the plan is structured — has shifted, you have until December 7, 2026 to switch.

The counties with the most change

Every Rhode Island county sees at least one plan leave or change for 2027. The counts, as listed in the Landscape comparison:

• Bristol County: 1 leaving, 8 changing
• Kent County: 1 leaving, 8 changing
• Newport County: 1 leaving, 8 changing
• Providence County: 1 leaving, 8 changing
• Washington County: 1 leaving, 8 changing

The pattern across all 5 counties is the same, which reflects how statewide and regional Medicare Advantage plans tend to be offered across Rhode Island rather than drawn tightly around a single county.

What to do before December 7

A short checklist for the weeks between now and the December 7, 2026 deadline:

1. Watch the mail in September. Your plan will send an ANOC (if the plan is continuing) or a non-renewal notice (if it is leaving). 2. Make a short list of what you need the plan to cover. Your prescriptions, your doctors and hospitals, the pharmacies you actually use, and any specialists or routine services you count on. 3. Compare on Medicare.gov. The Plan Finder at Medicare.gov uses the same underlying CMS Landscape data and lets you enter your drugs and providers. 4. Act by December 7, 2026 if you want a change to take effect January 1, 2027. If your plan is non-renewed and you need more time, your SEP runs through the end of February 2027.

Where to get free help

You do not have to work through this alone, and you do not have to pay for help. Free, unbiased assistance is available from:

• Medicare.gov, which lets you compare every plan offered where you live.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), available 24/7.
• Rhode Island's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which offers free one-on-one counseling with trained local volunteers.