Medicare Advantage

Before Dec. 7: an Arlington checklist for reviewing your 2027 Medicare plan

People in Arlington can choose from 83 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 89 this year. 28 of this year’s plans are gone, 22 are new to Tarrant County, and 32 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 10 of them under a new name.

ARLINGTON, Texas — It is fall 2026, and the mail is getting thicker. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan or a stand‑alone Part D drug plan, your insurer has sent (or is about to send) an Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC. It explains what will be different about your plan in 2027. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

If you do nothing, nothing dramatic happens — your plan simply renews with the updates listed in the ANOC, as long as it is still offered next year. But doing nothing is a choice, and this is the one time of year to make sure that choice still fits.

Start with the ANOC — don't skip to the brochures

The ANOC is the single most useful piece of paper you will get this fall. It is a side‑by‑side look at your plan today versus your plan on January 1. Flip to the pages that cover:

• the monthly premium and the plan deductible
• primary care, specialist and urgent care copays
• hospital and outpatient surgery costs
• the drug tiers and the pharmacy network
• any extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, over‑the‑counter, fitness)

If something you use a lot moved to a higher cost‑share or a different tier, that is the signal to compare other options — not a reason to panic.

Check your doctors and hospitals for 2027

Networks can change from one plan year to the next. Before December 7:

• Call each of your regular doctors and specialists and ask whether they will be in‑network for your 2027 plan (give them the plan name exactly as it appears on your card).
• Do the same for the Arlington‑area hospitals you would want to use — including the system your primary care doctor admits to.
• If you travel or spend part of the year outside Texas, ask how the plan handles out‑of‑area care.

A plan that worked beautifully in 2026 can look different in 2027 if a hospital system or a large medical group leaves the network.

Run your prescriptions through the 2027 formulary

Drug lists (formularies) are refreshed every year. The easiest way to check:

1. Make a list of every prescription you take, with the dose and how often. 2. Go to medicare.gov/plan-compare, enter your ZIP code and your drugs, and look at the 2027 plans side by side. 3. Pay attention to the tier each drug sits on, whether prior authorization or step therapy applies, and which pharmacies are "preferred."

Two Part D numbers to keep in mind for next year: the Part D out‑of‑pocket cap is $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). The coverage gap, or "donut hole," no longer exists — Part D has three phases now. If spreading drug costs across the year would help, ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you pay your pharmacy share in monthly installments.

Know what Tarrant County actually offers

Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. Arlington is in Tarrant County, where 12 carriers offer 89 Medicare Advantage plans for 2026: Aetna (CVS Health), American Health Advantage of Texas, Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Centene (WellCare), Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Molina Healthcare of Texas, ProCare Advantage, Provider Partners Health Plans, Texas Independence Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare. By plan type, that breaks down to 36 HMOs, 20 HMO‑POS plans, 31 PPOs and 2 PFFS plans; 36 are Special Needs Plans (for people with Medicaid, certain chronic conditions, or who live in a nursing home), and all 89 include drug coverage. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

The 2027 lineup for Tarrant County will appear on medicare.gov once the enrollment window opens.

A few things CMS has not announced yet

Some 2027 numbers are already set (the Part D figures above). Others are not. CMS usually publishes the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible in the fall, typically November, along with the 2027 IRMAA income brackets that affect higher earners. For reference, in 2026 the IRMAA surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer. Watch for the official announcements rather than relying on projections.

Build your short checklist for Dec. 7

• [ ] Read the ANOC your plan mailed you.
• [ ] List your current doctors, hospitals and prescriptions.
• [ ] Confirm each is covered under your 2027 plan — or under any plan you are comparing.
• [ ] Compare at least two or three options on medicare.gov/plan-compare.
• [ ] Make your choice on or before December 7, 2026.

If you miss December 7 and you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you have one more window: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027, when you can switch to another Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare.