Medicare Advantage

Dual Special Needs Plans in El Paso for 2027: who qualifies and how to choose

El Paso County has 89 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 18 plans are not coming back, 16 are new, and 48 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 19 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for El Paso, not which plan to pick.

EL PASO — If you have both Medicare and Medicaid, this fall's enrollment window brings a fuller menu of Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) in El Paso County for 2027, including new options from several carriers and a few familiar plans under new names. Here is what dual-eligible residents should know as the October 15 – December 7, 2026 Annual Enrollment Period runs.

What a D-SNP is, in plain terms

A Dual Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. It bundles your Part A (hospital), Part B (doctor) and Part D (drug) coverage into one plan, and it coordinates with your Medicaid benefits. Every D-SNP in El Paso County for 2027 includes prescription drug coverage.

El Paso is in El Paso County, where Medicare plan availability is set at the county level. For 2027, 28 of the 89 Medicare Advantage plans offered in the county are D-SNPs. The county also has 15 Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) and 4 Institutional SNPs (I-SNPs), which are separate programs for people with certain long-term conditions or who live in a facility.

Who qualifies: full vs. partial dual eligibility

To join a D-SNP, you must have Medicare (Parts A and B) and some form of Texas Medicaid help. In Texas, the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) confirms your Medicaid status and level. The two broad groups are:

• Full-benefit dual eligibles — people with Medicare and full Texas Medicaid. These enrollees qualify for plans designed to coordinate the full range of Medicaid services alongside Medicare.
• Partial-benefit dual eligibles — people who get help from a Medicare Savings Program such as QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary), SLMB or QI, but not full Medicaid. Some D-SNPs are built for this group; others require full Medicaid.

Plan names often hint at the group they serve (words like "Full Dual," "QMB Only," or "Dual Access"), but the plan's Evidence of Coverage and the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov will spell out which category each plan accepts. To confirm your own level, call Texas 2-1-1 or your local HHSC benefits office; to confirm what Medicare has on file, call 1-800-MEDICARE.

The 2027 D-SNP lineup in El Paso County

Ten carriers will offer D-SNPs in El Paso County for 2027. In alphabetical order:

• Aetna (CVS Health): 4 D-SNPs
• Alignment Health Plan: 2
• Centene (WellCare): 4
• Devoted Health: 2
• El Paso Health Medicare Advantage: 2
• Elevance Health (Anthem): 3
• HealthSpring: 2
• Humana: 3
• Molina Healthcare of Texas, Inc.: 1
• UnitedHealthcare: 5

Several plans are new for 2027, including Aetna Medicare QMB Only Care, Wellcare Superior HealthPlan Dual Liberty, Wellcare Superior HealthPlan Dual Reserve Value, El Paso Health Medicare Align, Wellpoint Dual Advantage, Wellpoint Dual Advantage Plus, Wellpoint Full Dual Advantage, HealthSpring TotalCare Plus, and UHC Dual Complete TX-S4.

A number of plans carry forward with new names, which can be confusing on paper even when the plan itself is familiar. Examples include Aetna Medicare Full Dual Care (was Aetna Medicare Dual Care), Aetna Medicare Full Dual Extra Care (was Aetna Medicare Full Dual Care), Aetna Medicare QMB Only Extra Care (was Aetna Medicare Partial Dual Care), the two Alignment Health Duals+ plans, Wellcare Superior HealthPlan Dual Access and Dual Reserve (previously Wellcare Dual Access and Dual Reserve), UHC Dual Advantage TX-V2, and UHC Dual Complete TX-Q5. The table below lists every D-SNP available in the county for 2027.

If you are already in a plan, read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your insurer mails each fall. It explains what, if anything, is changing — including a name change — for the coming year.

How often a dual-eligible person can change plans

Most people with Medicare can only change Medicare Advantage or Part D plans during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) or the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 – March 31). People who have Medicaid or who get Extra Help with drug costs get extra chances.

As of 2026, dual-eligible and Extra Help enrollees have a monthly Special Enrollment Period that lets them:

• Enroll in or switch to an integrated D-SNP once per month, or
• Leave a Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan.

The exact rules for how these monthly opportunities work have been tightened in recent years, so before you make a change, call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) to confirm what applies to your situation and when the change would take effect. If you do nothing during the fall window, your current plan simply renews for 2027 if it is still offered, with the updates listed in its ANOC.

How to confirm your eligibility

Before you shop or switch, it helps to know exactly where you stand:

1. Confirm your Medicaid level in Texas. Call 2-1-1 (Texas 2-1-1) or your local HHSC office, or sign in at YourTexasBenefits.com. Ask whether you have full Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program such as QMB, SLMB or QI. 2. Confirm what Medicare has on file. Call 1-800-MEDICARE or sign in at medicare.gov. The Medicare Plan Finder will only show you D-SNPs you qualify for once your Medicaid status is on record. 3. Match plans to your doctors and drugs. Use the Plan Finder to compare networks and drug lists, or ask any plan you are considering for its Evidence of Coverage and provider directory.

What's confirmed for 2027 — and what isn't

A few program-level numbers for 2027 are already set by CMS and worth knowing as you compare D-SNPs, which all include drug coverage:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027 (a formula input, not what any specific plan charges).

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, had not been announced as of early fall 2026. CMS publishes those figures later in the fall, usually in November.