Medicare Advantage

Does an HMO or PPO fit your Laredo Medicare search?

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 — If you are shopping for a Medicare Advantage plan here, the first fork in the road is not price or perks. It is the plan type. HMO, HMO-POS, PPO, PFFS and Special Needs Plan are five different rulebooks for how you see doctors, use referrals and travel with your coverage. Knowing what each letter means makes the rest of the search much easier.

Laredo sits in Webb County, where 45 Medicare Advantage plans from 8 carriers are offered for 2027, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. All 45 include drug coverage, and a share of them are Special Needs Plans built around specific groups of members. Below is how those plan types actually work — and which carriers in the county sell which kinds.

How the Webb County lineup is laid out

Eight carriers offer Medicare Advantage plans in the county for 2027. Compared with 2026, 36 plans continue, 9 are new, 20 are not returning, and 8 have been renamed; 16 continuing plans change something in their terms, and the details are in each plan's Annual Notice of Change. The full alphabetical roster by carrier is in the table below.

Not every carrier sells every plan type. Some stick to HMOs. Some lead with PPOs. The full roster — every plan by carrier for 2027 — is in the table below on this page, along with which carriers offer PFFS and Special Needs Plans.

HMO: your network is the plan

An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) asks you to pick a primary care doctor and stay inside the plan's network for routine care. If you want to see a specialist, you usually need a referral. Out-of-network care is generally not covered except in emergencies.

HMOs are the most common plan type in the county. Of the 64 plans available, 28 are HMOs. Carriers offering HMOs include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Centene (WellCare), Molina, Prominence and Texas Independence Health Plan.

An HMO-POS ("point of service") is a close cousin. It works like an HMO but lets you go out of network for certain services, usually at a higher cost. There are 9 HMO-POS plans in the county, all offered under UnitedHealthcare's AARP-branded and UHC Complete Care/Dual Complete lines.

PPO: more flexibility, different math

A PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) lets you see any doctor who accepts Medicare, in or out of network, without a referral. In-network care costs less; out-of-network care costs more. For snowbirds or people who split time between cities, that flexibility matters.

Webb County's 2027 lineup includes PPO plans from several carriers. Some are local PPOs and some are regional PPOs — the regional ones cover a wider service area, which the plan's own materials will spell out. The table below shows which carriers offer PPOs for 2027.

PFFS: the least common option

A PFFS (Private Fee-for-Service) plan sets its own payment terms with providers. You can see any doctor or hospital that agrees to accept the plan's terms, visit by visit. There is no network in the traditional sense, but not every provider will take a PFFS plan, so it is worth asking before each appointment.

The 2027 roster in Webb County includes PFFS availability; the table below shows the carrier and plan.

Special Needs Plans: built for specific situations

Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are Medicare Advantage plans limited to people who meet certain criteria. There are three flavors:

• D-SNP (Dual Eligible): for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid.
• C-SNP (Chronic Condition): for people living with a qualifying chronic condition, such as diabetes or certain heart conditions.
• I-SNP (Institutional): for people who live in a nursing home or need a similar level of care at home.

Webb County has 23 SNPs for 2026 across the eight carriers. Examples in the alphabetical roster include Aetna Medicare Dual Care (HMO D-SNP), Blue Cross Medicare Advantage Dual Care Plus (HMO D-SNP), HealthSpring Achieve (HMO C-SNP), HealthSpring TotalCare (HMO D-SNP), Humana Together in Health (PPO I-SNP), Molina Medicare Complete Care (HMO D-SNP), Prominence Diabetes and Heart Care Plus (HMO C-SNP), Texas Independence Community Plan (HMO I-SNP) and UHC Dual Complete plans. If you do not fit a SNP's eligibility rules, you cannot enroll in it, even if the benefits look appealing on paper.

How to narrow the field

Rather than start with 64 plans, start with your own life:

1. Your doctors. If keeping your current doctors matters, ask each office which Medicare Advantage plans they accept for 2027, then match that against the plan types you are considering. 2. How you travel. If you spend time outside Laredo, a PPO's out-of-network coverage may matter more than it would for someone who stays local. 3. Your medications. All 45 MA plans in Webb County for 2027 include drug coverage. The Part D annual out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027. The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs over the calendar year. 4. Your eligibility. If you qualify for a D-SNP, C-SNP or I-SNP, those plans are worth a close look because they are designed around your situation.

Higher-income enrollees should also know that IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D premiums begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

The Annual Enrollment Period runs Oct. 15 – Dec. 7 each year. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you also have the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 – March 31 to make one switch.