Medicare Advantage

By December 7: vet your Arlington UnitedHealthcare plan

ARLINGTON, Texas — Fall 2026. UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage lineup in Arlington is shifting for 2027. In Tarrant County, where Arlington sits, the carrier will offer 16 Medicare Advantage plans next year — four of them brand new, with six current plans not returning and one renamed. If you are enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare plan today, the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) that landed in your mailbox in September spells out what is changing for your specific plan on January 1, 2027.

This article walks through the UnitedHealthcare roster plan-by-plan, so you know what is on the shelf before the Annual Enrollment Period closes on December 7, 2026. MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer site and is not UnitedHealthcare; 11 other carriers also sell Medicare Advantage plans in Tarrant County for 2027, for a total of 83 plans countywide.

What Medicare Advantage plans does UnitedHealthcare offer in Arlington for 2027?

For 2027, UnitedHealthcare offers 16 Medicare Advantage plans in Tarrant County, which includes Arlington. By plan type, 12 are HMO-POS and 4 are PPO. Fifteen of the 16 include Part D drug coverage; one does not. The table below lists every plan by name.

The lineup is sold under the AARP Medicare Advantage brand for general-enrollment plans and under the UHC Complete Care, UHC Dual Complete, UHC Dual Advantage and UHC Nursing Home Plan brands for Special Needs Plans. Plan availability comes from the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File for plan year 2027.

Which UnitedHealthcare plans are new, renamed, or not returning in Tarrant County for 2027?

Four UnitedHealthcare plans are new for 2027 in Tarrant County: UHC Dual Advantage TX-V11, UHC Dual Complete TX-Q6, UHC Dual Complete TX-S6, and UHC Dual Complete TX-YL2 — all HMO-POS Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans with drug coverage. One plan has been renamed: AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC TX-61 (Regional PPO) was previously sold as UHC Medicare Advantage TX-0030 (Regional PPO).

Six UnitedHealthcare plans offered in 2026 are not returning for 2027. If you are in a plan that is leaving, UnitedHealthcare must notify you in writing, and you have the Annual Enrollment Period — and, if the plan non-renews, a Special Enrollment Period — to pick something else. Doing nothing means you may be left without Medicare Advantage coverage on January 1, so this is the one case where you should not just wait it out. Call 1-800-MEDICARE or your plan directly to confirm your status.

What Special Needs Plans does UnitedHealthcare offer in Arlington for 2027?

UnitedHealthcare's 2027 Special Needs Plan count in Tarrant County is 8: five Dual-Eligible SNPs (D-SNPs) for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, two Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) for people with certain qualifying conditions, and one Institutional SNP (I-SNP) for people living in a nursing home. All eight include Part D drug coverage.

SNPs have eligibility rules that general plans do not. A D-SNP requires active Medicaid; a C-SNP requires verification of the qualifying chronic condition; an I-SNP requires that you meet the institutional-level-of-care criteria. If you are not sure whether you qualify, Medicare.gov and 1-800-MEDICARE can walk you through it.

How do I check a UnitedHealthcare plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

The fastest way is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter your ZIP code, add your prescriptions and your preferred pharmacy, and the tool will show each plan's drug coverage and estimated yearly cost side by side. For doctors and hospitals, click into the specific plan and use its provider directory link, or call the plan's member services number to confirm a provider is in-network for 2027 (networks can change year to year, even if the plan name does not).

Three things to check specifically:

• Are your current prescriptions on the plan's 2027 formulary, and at what tier?
• Are your primary care doctor, specialists and preferred hospital in the plan's 2027 network?
• For an HMO-POS, do you need a referral to see specialists, and does your pharmacy stay in-network?

For 2027, the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 (from $2,100 in 2026) and the Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 (from $615 in 2026). The 2027 Part B standard premium and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets have not yet been announced; CMS typically publishes them later in the fall.

What is the deadline, and what happens if I do nothing?

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026. Any change you make in that window takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing and your current plan is being offered again next year, you will stay in it automatically, with whatever changes the ANOC describes. If your plan is one of the six UnitedHealthcare plans not returning in Tarrant County, you need to pick a new plan or you will drop out of Medicare Advantage.

There is also the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027, which gives current Medicare Advantage enrollees a one-time chance to switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.