Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in South Carolina Medicare Advantage for 2027: 5 Leaving, 19 Changing

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolinians on Medicare Advantage have a familiar fall task ahead: read the mail, check what's different, and decide whether to keep the current plan or switch. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its Medicare Advantage Landscape files for the 2026 and 2027 plan years, and a side-by-side comparison shows a mostly steady market with real movement around the edges. According to those files, South Carolina has 95 Medicare Advantage plans for 2026 and 97 for 2027. Five plans offered somewhere in the state this year will not be offered anywhere in South Carolina next year, 19 plans are returning but with at least one change on file, seven are brand new for 2027, and 71 are continuing unchanged. All 46 South Carolina counties see at least one plan either leave or change.

Medicare AdvantageSouth Carolina

What the statewide numbers mean

CMS publishes a Landscape file every year listing every Medicare Advantage plan available in every county. Comparing the 2026 and 2027 files for South Carolina shows 95 plans this year and 97 plans next year — a small net increase that hides more movement underneath.

Here is how CMS defines the two categories most readers care about. A plan is counted as leaving when it is offered somewhere in South Carolina for 2026 but nowhere in the state for 2027. Five plans fit that description. A plan is counted as changing when it is offered in both years but its premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name differs in at least one county between the two files. Nineteen plans fit that description. Seven plans are new for 2027, and 71 are continuing with no change recorded in the file. One carrier, Wellpoint, has no South Carolina plans listed for 2027.

Every one of South Carolina's 46 counties has at least one plan either leaving or changing in the 2027 file.

If your plan is leaving

If your current Medicare Advantage plan is one of the 5 not being offered in South Carolina for 2027, you will get a non-renewal letter from the carrier. That letter is important — keep it.

A member whose plan is not renewed qualifies for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that runs through the end of February 2027. During that SEP you can choose another Medicare Advantage plan or move back to Original Medicare and consider a stand-alone Part D drug plan. If you do nothing, your coverage under the non-renewed plan ends, so this is one situation where inaction has real consequences.

You can also make a choice earlier, during the Annual Enrollment Period from October 15 to December 7, 2026, with coverage starting January 1, 2027.

If your plan is changing

If your plan is one of the 19 that is returning for 2027 with a change on file, the carrier is required to send you an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) in the fall. The ANOC is the document that lays out, in detail, exactly what is different about your plan next year compared with this year.

CMS flags a plan as "changing" when its premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name differs in at least one county between the 2026 and 2027 files. That tells you a change exists; it does not tell you which one applies to you or how large it is. For that, the ANOC is the source. Read it alongside your current card and your list of prescriptions and doctors.

A member who does nothing stays enrolled in a renewing plan under the terms described in that ANOC. That can be fine — many people read the ANOC, decide the plan still works, and simply stay put. The point is to make it a decision, not an accident.

The counties with the most change

Change is not evenly spread. According to the 2026-to-2027 comparison, these South Carolina counties have the highest counts of plans leaving or changing:

• Cherokee County: 14 leaving, 7 changing
• Anderson County: 6 leaving, 11 changing
• Greenville County: 4 leaving, 12 changing
• Pickens County: 5 leaving, 10 changing
• Spartanburg County: 3 leaving, 12 changing
• Charleston County: 4 leaving, 10 changing
• York County: 4 leaving, 10 changing
• Berkeley County: 3 leaving, 9 changing

If you live in one of these counties, the odds are higher that something in your mail this fall affects you directly.

What to do before December 7

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

1. Watch the mail in September and October 2026. Look for a non-renewal notice (your plan is leaving) or an ANOC (your plan is returning with changes). 2. Make a short list. Write down your prescriptions, your doctors and hospitals, and any pharmacies you prefer. 3. Compare using official tools. The Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code and medications to see every 2027 plan available where you live. 4. Act in the window. Any choice made during the Annual Enrollment Period of October 15 to December 7, 2026 takes effect January 1, 2027. If your plan was not renewed, you have additional time through the end of February 2027 under the SEP.

Where to get free help

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

• Medicare.gov — the official site for plan comparisons and enrollment.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• South Carolina SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) — free, unbiased, one-on-one Medicare counseling from trained local counselors.