Medicare Advantage

Irving Medicare 2027: the chronic condition plans your diagnosis may unlock

Dallas County has 84 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 29 plans are not coming back, 20 are new, and 31 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 9 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Irving, not which plan to pick.

Fall 2026 — If you live in Irving and manage a long-term condition like diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease, you may qualify for a special kind of Medicare Advantage plan built around your diagnosis. For plan year 2027, Dallas County — which includes Irving — has 15 Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs) from six carriers. Enrollment is tied to your health, not the calendar, so the usual Annual Enrollment deadline of December 7, 2026 is only part of the picture.

What is a Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan?

A C-SNP is a type of Medicare Advantage plan that only accepts members who have a specific, serious, long-term health condition. Medicare defines a list of qualifying conditions — examples include diabetes, chronic heart failure, cardiovascular disorders and end-stage renal disease — and each C-SNP is designed around one condition or a small group of related ones.

Because every member shares the same condition, the plan can shape its drug list, provider network and care coordination around that illness. Like other Medicare Advantage plans, a C-SNP replaces Original Medicare for your Part A and Part B services, and most include Part D drug coverage.

How many C-SNPs are offered in Irving for 2027?

Irving sits in Dallas County, where 15 of the 84 Medicare Advantage plans available for 2027 are C-SNPs. The other Special Needs Plans in the county break down to 20 Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, and 7 Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) for people living in nursing homes or needing a similar level of care.

Six carriers offer C-SNPs in Dallas County for 2027: Aetna (CVS Health) with 1, Elevance Health (Anthem) with 4, Humana with 5, ProCare Advantage with 2, UnitedHealthcare with 2, and Verda Health Plan of Texas with 1.

Which C-SNPs are available in Dallas County for 2027?

The table below lists every C-SNP offered in the county for 2027, by carrier, in alphabetical order. A few names tell you the condition the plan is built for — for example, kidney care or diabetes and heart — and a few are new or renamed for 2027.

• Aetna (CVS Health): Aetna Medicare Chronic Care Total (HMO C-SNP) — renamed for 2027 (previously Aetna Medicare Prime Chronic Total).
• Elevance Health (Anthem): Wellpoint Chronic Care (HMO-POS C-SNP); Wellpoint Chronic Care Advantage Select (HMO C-SNP) — new for 2027; Wellpoint Chronic Care Select (HMO-POS C-SNP) — new for 2027; Wellpoint Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP).
• Humana: Humana DaVita Kidney Care (PPO C-SNP) — new for 2027 (two plans under this name); Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP) — three plans under this name, one of which is new for 2027.
• ProCare Advantage: ProCare Advantage - Diabetes Care Management (HMO-POS C-SNP); ProCare Advantage - Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP).
• UnitedHealthcare: UHC Complete Care TX-29 (Regional PPO C-SNP); UHC Complete Care TX-3P (HMO-POS C-SNP).
• Verda Health Plan of Texas: Verda Noble Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP).

All 15 plans include Part D drug coverage.

How do I qualify to join a C-SNP?

You need a qualifying chronic condition confirmed by a licensed provider. When you apply, the plan sends your doctor a form (often called a "pre-enrollment qualification form") to verify your diagnosis. If the provider does not return it within a set window, the plan can disenroll you.

You also need to have Medicare Parts A and B, live in the plan's service area and — like other Medicare Advantage members — generally keep paying your Part B premium. If you later lose the qualifying condition, the plan gives you a grace period to switch to another type of coverage.

When can I enroll in a C-SNP in Irving?

A qualifying chronic condition opens a Special Enrollment Period that lets you join a C-SNP once, outside the usual windows. You do not have to wait for Annual Enrollment. That said, Medicare Annual Enrollment for 2027 still runs October 15 – December 7, 2026, with changes taking effect January 1, 2027, and the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 – March 31, 2027 for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan.

If you do nothing during Annual Enrollment and your current plan is being offered again next year, it renews automatically with any changes described in its Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Across Dallas County's full 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup, 29 plans are not returning, 20 are new and 9 are renamed — so it's worth reading the ANOC your plan mails you this fall.

What should I check before switching to a C-SNP?

A few questions worth asking before you enroll:

• Does your diagnosis match the condition the plan is built around? A kidney C-SNP, for example, is not meant for someone whose main condition is diabetes.
• Are your doctors, specialists and preferred hospital in the plan's network?
• Are your prescriptions on the plan's formulary, and at what tier?
• What does the plan's Evidence of Coverage say about care coordination, prior authorization and referrals?

Program-wide for 2027, the Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 (up from $2,100 in 2026) and the Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 (up from $615 in 2026). The 2027 Part B standard premium and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets are set to be published by CMS later in the fall.