Medicare Advantage

Before December 7: vetting Houston's 22 new MA plans

People in Houston can choose from 99 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 114 this year. 37 of this year’s plans are gone, 22 are new to Harris County, and 44 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 17 of them under a new name.

HOUSTON — When the Annual Enrollment Period opens on October 15, 2026, shoppers in Harris County will see 22 Medicare Advantage plans that were not sold here for 2026. They come from 11 different carriers, and because they are brand new, none of them has a track record in this market yet. That is the key thing to know before December 7, 2026, the deadline to pick coverage that starts January 1, 2027.

A new plan is not better or worse than one that is renewing. It is just newer. That means you cannot look up its Star Rating history, and you cannot ask a neighbor how it worked for them last year. You have to check it the slow way — against your own doctors and your own prescriptions — using the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.

What "new for 2027" actually means

CMS publishes a Landscape Source File each year that lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in every county. When we compare the 2026 file to the 2027 file for Harris County, 22 plans appear in 2027 that were not there in 2026. Those are what we mean by "new."

A new plan can be a carrier's first product in Houston, or it can be an existing carrier adding another option — for example, a Dual Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, or a Chronic Condition SNP (C-SNP) for people with a specific diagnosis.

What a new plan does not have is time. Medicare's Star Ratings are built from past data — member surveys, complaints, how well the plan manages care. A plan in its first year has none of that history yet. You will see it on medicare.gov without a star score, and that is normal.

The 11 carriers adding plans in Harris County

The 22 new plans come from these carriers (count in parentheses): Aetna (CVS Health) (2), Centene (WellCare) (1), Community Health Choice (2), Devoted Health (2), Elevance Health (Anthem) (4), HealthSpring (1), Humana (2), MedCare Partners Health Plan of Texas (3), ProCare Advantage (2), SCAN Health Plan (2), and UnitedHealthcare (1).

MedCare Partners Health Plan of Texas is worth flagging because it is the only name on this list that is not already offering a plan in Harris County for 2026 — so for 2027, it is a new carrier in the market, not just a new plan.

Every new plan, in alphabetical order by carrier

All 22 plans include Part D drug coverage. The table on this page shows each plan's full name and type; here is the alphabetical rundown so you can match what you see on medicare.gov:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — Aetna Medicare Chronic Care Total (HMO C-SNP); Aetna Medicare QMB Only Care (HMO D-SNP)
• Centene (WellCare) — Wellcare Superior HealthPlan Dual Liberty (HMO D-SNP)
• Community Health Choice — Community DualCare Access (HMO D-SNP); Community DualCare Aligned (HMO D-SNP)
• Devoted Health — DEVOTED C-SNP GIVEBACK EXTRAS 087 TX (HMO C-SNP); DEVOTED GIVEBACK EXTRAS 114 TX (HMO)
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — Wellpoint Chronic Care Advantage Select (HMO C-SNP); Wellpoint Dual Advantage Plus Select (HMO D-SNP); Wellpoint Dual Advantage Select (HMO D-SNP); Wellpoint Full Dual Advantage Select (HMO D-SNP)
• HealthSpring — HealthSpring TotalCare Plus (HMO D-SNP)
• Humana — Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP); Humana Together in Health (PPO I-SNP)
• MedCare Partners Health Plan of Texas — MedCare Choice (HMO C-SNP); MedCare Classic (HMO); MedCare Focus (HMO C-SNP)
• ProCare Advantage — ProCare Advantage - Diabetes Care Management (HMO-POS C-SNP); ProCare Advantage - Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP)
• SCAN Health Plan — SCAN Walmart Health Advantage (HMO); SCAN Walmart Medicare Complete (HMO C-SNP)
• UnitedHealthcare — UHC Dual Complete TX-Q6 (HMO-POS D-SNP)

Notice how heavily this list leans toward Special Needs Plans. Most of these 22 are C-SNPs (for a chronic condition like diabetes, heart failure or kidney disease), D-SNPs (for people on Medicare and Medicaid), or an I-SNP (for people in a long-term care setting). If you do not qualify for an SNP, your choice from this new-plan list is narrower.

How to vet a new plan before December 7

Because there is no history to lean on, here is what to check for yourself:

1. Your doctors. On medicare.gov, open the plan and look up each of your current providers. If a doctor is not listed, call the office directly and ask whether they are contracted for 2027 — directories can lag. 2. Your prescriptions. Enter every drug you take, with the dose and pharmacy. The Plan Finder will show the plan's drug tier and whether it requires prior authorization or step therapy. 3. Your pharmacy. A plan's "preferred" pharmacies can change year to year. Confirm yours is still preferred for 2027. 4. The plan documents. Each plan posts a Summary of Benefits and an Evidence of Coverage on its own website. These are the binding documents — not the marketing mail. 5. The plan type. HMO and HMO-POS plans generally require in-network care except for emergencies. PPO plans let you go out of network, usually at higher cost. SNPs have eligibility rules you must meet.

If you are happy with your 2026 plan and it is still offered in 2027, you do not need to do anything — it renews automatically. But read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your insurer sent in late September. That document lists what is changing for 2027: the premium, the drug list, the copays, the network.

A quick note on the 2027 numbers that are set

CMS has confirmed a few program-wide figures for 2027: the Part D out-of-pocket cap will be $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible will be $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The 2027 Part B standard premium, Part B deductible, and IRMAA income brackets have not been announced yet; CMS usually publishes them in November.