Medicare Advantage

Austin's 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup: every carrier and plan, side by side

People in Austin can choose from 56 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 60 this year. 15 of this year’s plans are gone, 11 are new to Travis County, and 21 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 8 of them under a new name.

Medicare AdvantageAustin, TX

AUSTIN — If you are shopping for a Medicare Advantage plan in Austin for 2027, here is the full picture, carrier by carrier. Austin sits in Travis County, and Medicare Advantage availability is set at the county level. For 2027, CMS lists 48 Medicare Advantage plans in Travis County from 8 carriers, and every one of them includes prescription drug coverage. The table below lists every plan, its type (HMO, HMO-POS or PPO), and whether it is a Special Needs Plan.

What is on offer in Austin for 2027

The eight carriers with Medicare Advantage plans in Travis County for 2027 are Aetna (CVS Health), Centene (WellCare), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Provider Partners Health Plans, Texas Independence Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare. Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC) is not offering plans in the county for 2027, and Provider Partners Health Plans is new to the county this year. Compared with 2026, 37 plans continue, 11 are new, 15 are not returning and 8 have been renamed; 13 of the continuing plans change something in their terms, detailed in each plan's Annual Notice of Change.

Because Medicare Advantage plans are contracted county by county, this list applies to anyone with a Travis County home address, not just the Austin city limits. If you live in a neighboring county, your options may look different.

The carriers and plan types, at a glance

Here is how the 60 plans divide up by carrier and what plan types each carrier offers. All of them include Part D drug coverage.

• Aetna (CVS Health): 6 plans (HMO, PPO; 2 Special Needs)
• Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC): 4 plans (HMO, PPO; 1 Special Needs)
• Centene (WellCare): 5 plans (HMO; 4 Special Needs)
• Devoted Health: 8 plans (HMO, PPO; 4 Special Needs)
• Elevance Health (Anthem): 4 plans (HMO, HMO-POS; 3 Special Needs)
• Humana: 17 plans (HMO, PPO; 4 Special Needs)
• Texas Independence Health Plan: 2 plans (HMO; 2 Special Needs)
• UnitedHealthcare: 14 plans (HMO-POS, PPO; 8 Special Needs)

The table below lists every plan by carrier so you can see the individual plan names, types and drug coverage status.

What the plan types mean

Austin's 2027 lineup has three plan types. An HMO usually asks you to pick a primary care doctor and stay in-network, except for emergencies. An HMO-POS (point-of-service) works like an HMO but lets you go out of network for certain services, usually at a higher cost. A PPO gives you more flexibility to see out-of-network providers, generally at a higher share of the cost.

You will also see "SNP" labels in the roster. Special Needs Plans are limited to people who meet specific criteria — for example, D-SNPs are for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, C-SNPs are for people with certain chronic conditions such as diabetes or chronic heart failure, and I-SNPs are for people who live in a long-term care setting. Of the 60 plans in Travis County, 28 are SNPs, so many of the choices in the table will not be open to everyone.

Drug coverage is built in

All 48 Medicare Advantage plans in Travis County for 2027 include Part D prescription drug coverage. That matters because a few program-wide changes take effect in 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your covered drug spending reaches that amount, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027).
• The old coverage gap ("donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments, at no extra charge. You have to opt in with your plan.

CMS does not publish a stand-alone Part D plan list for Travis County in this year's landscape file, so if you want drug coverage through Medicare Advantage, one of these 48 plans is the route.

Dates to keep in mind

The Annual Enrollment Period runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026. That is when you can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan for coverage starting Jan. 1, 2027. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan on Jan. 1, you also have the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 through March 31 to make one change — for example, switching to a different Advantage plan or going back to Original Medicare.

Higher-income enrollees should also know that IRMAA surcharges — the income-related add-on to Part B and Part D premiums — begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

How to compare the plans

The roster below tells you what is offered. It does not tell you what any plan costs, what its network looks like, what drugs are on its formulary, or what its star rating is. For those details, use the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, request the plan's Summary of Benefits, or call the carrier directly. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE, which is staffed 24/7.

For free, unbiased help from someone who is not selling anything, contact the Texas State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known in Texas as the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP). Counselors can walk you through your options based on your doctors, medications and budget.