Medicare Advantage

Before You Toss That ANOC Envelope, Read This

Nueces County has 48 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 19 plans are not coming back, 10 are new, and 29 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 10 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Corpus Christi, not which plan to pick.

Corpus Christi, Texas — If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in the Coastal Bend, the mail arriving this fall matters more than usual. In Nueces County, 19 Medicare Advantage plans are set to leave after 2026, 10 new plans are coming for 2027, and another 10 are keeping their coverage but changing names. That is according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files comparing 2026 and 2027.

The Annual Enrollment Period — October 15 through December 7 — is when you can switch, and if your current plan is being discontinued, you get extra time under a Special Enrollment Period that runs through the end of February.

What is actually changing in Nueces County

Corpus Christi is in Nueces County, where Medicare Advantage availability is set. For plan year 2027, CMS records show three kinds of change in this county:

• Plans leaving after 2026 (19 total). These include all four Blue Cross Medicare Advantage plans (Dental Value, Preferred, Saver and Secure), HealthSpring Preferred (HMO), five Wellcare plans (Assist, Dual Access, Dual Liberty, Patriot Simple and Simple), both CHRISTUS Health Advantage plans (Medicare Guardian and Medicare Plus), Wellpoint Full Dual Advantage Aligned, three Humana plans (Gold Choice H8145-084, USAA Honor Giveback PPO, HumanaChoice H5216-360 and HumanaChoice H7617-040), and two UnitedHealthcare plans (UHC Complete Care Support TX-1A and UHC Dual Complete TX-S4).
• Plans new for 2027 (10 total). These include Aetna Medicare QMB Only Care, HealthSpring Preferred and HealthSpring TotalCare Plus, three Wellpoint plans (Dual Advantage, Dual Advantage Plus and Full Dual Advantage Aligned), Humana Together in Health and Humana Value Choice, ProCare Advantage, and UHC Dual Complete TX-S4.
• Plans renamed (10 total). Some names you may recognize are shifting — for example, Aetna Medicare Signature (PPO) is becoming Aetna Medicare Signature Extra (PPO), and UHC Medicare Advantage TX-0030 becomes AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC TX-61. A rename doesn't necessarily mean the plan design is identical; check your ANOC.

The table on this page lists every 2026 plan by carrier so you can find yours by name.

Carriers coming and goingTwo carrier-level shifts are worth flagging:

• CHRISTUS Health Advantage will not offer Medicare Advantage plans in Nueces County in 2027. Members of CHRISTUS Health Medicare Guardian or CHRISTUS Health Medicare Plus should expect a non-renewal notice.
• ProCare Advantage is entering the county as a new carrier for 2027.

The other six carriers — Aetna (CVS Health), Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Centene (WellCare), Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Texas Independence Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare — continue to offer plans, though several of their individual plans are on the leaving list.

What to do if your plan is being discontinued

If your Medicare Advantage plan is not being renewed for 2027, the insurer must send you a written non-renewal notice — typically in early October. That letter is important. Keep it.

You have two enrollment windows:

• Annual Enrollment Period (AEP): October 15 – December 7, 2026. Any change you make now takes effect January 1, 2027.
• Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for a non-renewal: This runs from December 8 through the end of February. During this SEP you can join a different Medicare Advantage plan, join a stand-alone Part D drug plan, or drop back to Original Medicare.

Doing nothing is a choice too — but usually not a good one. If your plan ends and you don't pick a new Medicare Advantage plan, you'll generally be moved to Original Medicare, which has no drug coverage on its own and no out-of-pocket cap for medical services.

What to do if your plan is "changing" but staying

CMS flags 19 continuing plans in the county as changing on premium, deductible, type or name for 2027. That does not mean anything is wrong — plans update every year. But it does mean you should read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), which your insurer must send by September 30. The ANOC lays out exactly what's different next year: cost changes, formulary (drug list) changes, and network updates.

A few things worth checking against your ANOC and the 2027 Evidence of Coverage:

• Are your doctors, specialists and hospitals still in-network?
• Are your regular prescriptions still covered, and on the same tier?
• Has the plan's type changed (HMO vs. PPO vs. HMO-POS)? That affects how you can use out-of-network care.

Program-level facts that apply to everyone

Some numbers to keep in mind as you compare:

• Part D has an out-of-pocket cap of $2,100 for 2026, after which covered drugs cost you nothing for the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 (plans may charge less).
• The old coverage gap (the "donut hole") has been eliminated since 2025; Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in level monthly payments, at no extra charge. It's optional.
• IRMAA income-related surcharges on Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Where to get personal help

For a decision this specific, use official channels:

• Medicare.gov Plan Finder lets you enter your drugs and preferred pharmacies to compare plans side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) is open 24/7.
• Texas's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known here as the Texas Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), offers free one-on-one counseling. You can reach them through the Area Agency on Aging of the Coastal Bend.