Medicare Advantage

Anthem's 2027 Medicare Advantage plans in Arlington: five new, three gone

ARLINGTON, Texas — Anthem's Medicare Advantage lineup for Tarrant County is shifting for 2027, with five new plans joining the roster and three not returning. If you have an Anthem plan now or you are weighing one during this fall's Annual Enrollment Period, the lineup you'll be choosing from on January 1 is not the same as the one you saw last year.

This article walks through every Anthem Medicare Advantage plan offered in the county Arlington sits in for the 2027 plan year, by plan type, Special Needs status, and whether it includes drug coverage. MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer site; we are not Anthem, not Medicare, and not selling anything. Anthem is one of 12 carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans in Tarrant County next year — 83 plans in all — so this is a slice of the local picture, not the whole picture.

How many Anthem Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Arlington for 2027?

Anthem is offering 8 Medicare Advantage plans in Tarrant County, which is the county Arlington is in, for the 2027 plan year. By type, that is 3 HMOs and 5 HMO-POS plans, and all 8 include Part D prescription drug coverage.

Of those 8 plans, 6 are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) — 3 Dual-Eligible SNPs (D-SNPs) for people who also have Medicaid, and 3 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) for people with specific long-term conditions. There are no Institutional SNPs in Anthem's local lineup next year.

The table below lists every Anthem plan available in the county for 2027, with its plan type, SNP status, and whether it includes drug coverage.

What is new or not returning in Anthem's Arlington lineup for 2027?

Five Anthem plans are new for 2027 in Tarrant County, and three plans Anthem offered in 2026 are not returning. The new plans are Wellpoint Chronic Care Select, Wellpoint Dual Advantage Plus Select, Wellpoint Dual Advantage Select, Wellpoint Full Dual Advantage Select, and Wellpoint Medicare Advantage Select.

Returning for 2027 are Wellpoint Chronic Care, Wellpoint Kidney Care, and Wellpoint Medicare Advantage 2.

If you are currently enrolled in a plan that is not returning, Anthem is required to send you a notice. You will have an opportunity to pick a different plan during the Annual Enrollment Period or using a Special Enrollment Period if your plan is leaving the service area. If you are in a plan that is renewing, your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) — mailed each fall — lists exactly what is changing for 2027 in your benefits, costs, and drug list.

What is the difference between HMO, HMO-POS, D-SNP and C-SNP?

An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plan generally asks you to use doctors and hospitals in its network and to pick a primary care doctor. An HMO-POS (Point of Service) plan is similar but allows some out-of-network care under specific rules the plan sets.

A D-SNP is for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. A C-SNP is for people with certain qualifying chronic conditions, such as diabetes, chronic heart failure, or end-stage renal disease — each C-SNP spells out which conditions make someone eligible. All of Anthem's SNPs in Tarrant County for 2027 include drug coverage.

Eligibility, networks, formularies, and costs vary from plan to plan. The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is where you confirm whether you qualify and what a specific plan would cover for you.

How do I check an Anthem plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

Use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Plan Finder lets you type in your prescription drug list and your pharmacy, then shows how each plan would cover those drugs for the coming year.

A good checklist before you choose:

• Make a current list of your prescriptions, including dosages and how often you fill them.
• List the doctors, specialists, and hospitals you want to keep using.
• On medicare.gov, enter your ZIP code and drugs, then compare plans side by side.
• Call each plan directly, or check its online provider directory, to confirm your doctors are in network for 2027 — directories update as the year turns.
• Ask the pharmacy you use whether it is a preferred, standard, or out-of-network pharmacy for the plan you are considering.

Doing this before December 7, 2026 means any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

What 2027 Medicare figures are already confirmed?

CMS has published a few Part D numbers for 2027 that apply no matter which plan you pick. The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. The maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge is $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026. The Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33 — that is a formula input used in some calculations, not what any particular plan will charge you.

The 2027 standard Part B premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets and surcharges, have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes those figures later in the fall. We'll update our coverage when they're out.

As a reminder, the Part D coverage gap (the old "donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.

What happens if I do nothing by December 7?

If you do nothing and your current plan is offered again in 2027, your coverage renews automatically on January 1, 2027, with the changes listed in your plan's Annual Notice of Change. If your plan is one of the three Anthem plans not returning next year, your coverage will not continue in the same form, and you'll want to pick a new plan during Annual Enrollment or use a Special Enrollment Period if one applies.

There is also the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027, which lets people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan make one change — switch to another MA plan or go back to Original Medicare (and add a Part D plan).