Medicare Advantage

Medicare plan counts in Westerly and nearby areas

Westerly, R.I. — If you're on Medicare in Westerly, or helping a parent sort through their choices, it helps to see how the local landscape looks heading into 2027. Westerly sits in Washington County, and that's the geography Medicare uses when it counts how many plans are available where you live. Here's a plain-language look at what's on the map around town — and how nearby areas compare.

Why the county line matters

Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are approved by the federal government at the county level. So even though we talk about "Medicare in Westerly," the actual plan counts are set for Washington County as a whole. If a friend in Providence or New London tells you their options look different, they're not imagining it — they live in a different county service area.

That's why the same person can move a few towns over and see a very different menu of plans at the mailbox each fall.

What's available in Washington County for 2027

According to the CMS Medicare Plan Finder and 2026 Landscape data, here's the snapshot for the Westerly area:

• 22 Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Washington County.
• 4 carriers offer Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage (MA-PD) in the area.
• Rhode Island has 11 stand-alone Part D plans for 2026, sold statewide — so anyone in Westerly with Original Medicare can join one of them.
• 0 contracts serving the area are currently rated 4 stars or higher in this data pull.

For context, roughly 30,422 people age 65 and older live in Washington County, so this menu is serving a sizable local population.

A quick note on Star Ratings: CMS scores Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts — not individual plans — on quality and member experience. A lower count of 4-star-or-higher contracts in a given snapshot isn't a judgment on any one plan; it's just one data point. Ratings can shift year to year.

How Westerly compares to nearby areas

Because plan counts are set county by county, the number of options a Rhode Islander sees can look quite different depending on where they live. Someone in Providence County, for example, sits in a much larger metro market, and the plan menu there tends to reflect that. In smaller or more rural counties in southern New England, the number of participating carriers can be tighter.

Washington County's 22 Medicare Advantage plans from 4 MA-PD carriers put Westerly somewhere in the middle: not the biggest metro menu in the region, but a real range of choices to compare.

The takeaway isn't "more plans is better." It's that your ZIP code shapes what you can pick from — so always run your own address through the Plan Finder rather than relying on what a neighbor or an out-of-state relative sees.

The 2027 rules that apply everywhere

No matter which county you live in, some parts of Medicare are set at the national level. For 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 ($2,400 in 2027). Once your covered drug spending hits that ceiling, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D deductible can be no higher than $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027).
• The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments, at no extra charge. It's optional — you have to opt in.
• IRMAA — the income-related surcharge on Part B and Part D — kicks in above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates to keep on the fridge

• Annual Enrollment Period: Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, 2026. This is when most people compare and switch plans for 2027 coverage that starts Jan. 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: Jan. 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan and it isn't fitting, you get one chance to change during this window.