Medicare Advantage

Before you renew in Laredo: a plain-English way to size up your 2027 Medicare Advantage choices

For 2027, Laredo is looking at 53 Medicare Advantage plans: 9 new, 20 gone since 2026, and 24 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 8 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Webb County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

Laredo, Texas — Fall 2026. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan in Laredo, you have from October 15 through December 7, 2026 to look at your 2027 options and make a change for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. You do not have to switch. If you do nothing, your current plan renews next year — but it may not look the same, which is why a quick side-by-side is worth the hour.

Laredo sits in Webb County, and that is the level Medicare uses to decide which plans you can join. For 2027, the CMS Landscape Source File lists 53 Medicare Advantage plans in Webb County from 8 carriers, with 9 new plans and 20 not returning from 2026. That is the backdrop for the comparison steps below.

How many Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Laredo for 2027?

Laredo is in Webb County, where 53 Medicare Advantage plans from 8 carriers are offered for 2027, according to the CMS Landscape Source File. By type that breaks down to 24 HMO, 10 HMO-POS and 19 PPO plans. Of the 53, 46 include Part D drug coverage, and 25 are Special Needs Plans (15 D-SNP for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, 6 C-SNP for certain chronic conditions, and 4 I-SNP for people living in an institution or who need that level of care).

The 2027 carriers in Webb County, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health), Centene (WellCare), HealthSpring, Humana, Molina Healthcare of Texas, Inc., Prominence Health Plan, Texas Independence Health Plan, and UnitedHealthcare. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

What is new in Webb County's 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup?

For 2027, Webb County has 9 new Medicare Advantage plans and 20 plans that are not returning from 2026. A number of plans have also been renamed, so a plan with a familiar name on your mail may not be exactly the one you had this year.

If your plan is on the "not returning" list, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice; you then have the Annual Enrollment Period, plus a Special Enrollment Period that runs into early 2027, to pick a new plan. If you do nothing, you will go back to Original Medicare on January 1 and will not have Part D drug coverage until you join a plan that offers it.

What is the Annual Notice of Change and why does it matter?

The Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) is the letter your current plan sends every fall — usually by late September — that lists the differences between your 2026 plan and the 2027 version. It is the single most useful document in this whole process, because the plan you had is often not identical to the plan you will have next year.

When you open the ANOC, look specifically at the monthly premium, the medical and drug deductibles, the primary and specialist copays, the maximum out-of-pocket limit, the drug tiers for any medicines you take, and the extras you actually use (dental, vision, hearing, OTC card, transportation, fitness). If any of those moved in a direction you do not like, that is your signal to compare.

How do I compare Medicare Advantage plans in Laredo step by step?

The fastest honest way to compare plans in Laredo for 2027 is to work through the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov one checkpoint at a time, in this order:

1. Doctors. Make a short list of the providers you want to keep — primary care, any specialists you see, and your preferred clinic. Then check each plan's provider directory on the carrier's website, or call the plan, to confirm those doctors are in-network for 2027. HMO and HMO-POS plans generally require in-network care except for emergencies; PPO plans let you go out of network at a higher cost.

2. Hospitals. Confirm the hospital you would want in an emergency or for a planned procedure is contracted with the plan. In Laredo that typically means checking Laredo Medical Center and Doctors Hospital of Laredo, plus any specialty centers you use.

3. Prescriptions. On the Plan Finder, enter every drug you take, with the exact dose and how often you fill it. The tool will show each plan's estimated yearly drug cost and flag any drugs that are not covered or that require prior authorization or step therapy.

4. Pharmacies. Enter the two or three pharmacies you actually use. The same drug can cost very different amounts at a "preferred" pharmacy versus a "standard" one in the same plan.

5. Total cost, not just premium. Add premium + expected copays + drug costs. A lower-premium plan with high copays for a drug you take every month may cost more over the year than a higher-premium plan.

6. Star Ratings and extras. Star Ratings (1 to 5) are Medicare's measure of plan quality and member experience; use them as context, not as a tiebreaker on their own.

If you prefer to talk to a person, 1-800-MEDICARE is open 24/7.

What 2027 numbers should Laredo readers know now?

A few program-wide numbers for 2027 are already set by CMS and apply to every Part D and Medicare Advantage drug plan:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs hits that cap, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Plans can set a lower deductible, but not higher.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available if you want to spread your drug costs across the year in level monthly bills instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not been announced yet. CMS typically releases those figures later in the fall. Do not plan around estimates — wait for the official numbers.

What happens on December 7 in Laredo?

December 7, 2026 is the last day to pick or change a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027 coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period. Any change you make in the window takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan renews with whatever changes are listed in its ANOC — assuming the plan is still offered in Webb County next year.

If you choose a Medicare Advantage plan and change your mind, you get one more chance: the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 – March 31, 2027. In that window you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan once, or drop back to Original Medicare and add a Part D plan.