Medicare Advantage

Medicare coverage options across Lubbock and the South Plains

Lubbock County has 38 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 19 plans are not coming back, 7 are new, and 24 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 Lubbock, not which plan to pick.

LUBBOCK, Texas — If you live in or near Lubbock and you're sorting through Medicare choices for 2027, here's some good news: the South Plains isn't a plan desert. Coverage options vary a bit from county to county across the metro, but people turning 65 or reviewing coverage during this fall's Annual Enrollment Period have room to compare.

Medicare plan availability across the Lubbock area for 2027

Because Medicare Advantage and Part D availability is set at the county level — not the city level — where you live matters. Lubbock sits inside Lubbock County, and the counts below reflect that county footprint.

What's available in Lubbock County

Lubbock County has about 42,314 residents age 65 and older, and Medicare uses county lines to decide which plans a person can join. For 2027:

• 29 Medicare Advantage plans are available to Lubbock County residents.
• Those plans come from 6 carriers offering Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD).
• Texas has 12 stand-alone Part D plans for 2026, sold statewide, and Lubbock County residents with Original Medicare can join any of them. (Stand-alone Part D is typically paired with Original Medicare; if you want to confirm the options for your situation, check Medicare.gov's Plan Finder using your ZIP code.)
• 0 contracts serving the area currently carry an overall Star Rating of 4 or higher in the latest ratings snapshot.

These are area-level counts only — a tally of what's on the shelf, not a recommendation of any specific plan.

How the picture shifts in nearby counties

Drive 20 or 30 miles out of Lubbock and the Medicare map can look different. Counties like Hockley, Lynn, Crosby, Lubbock, Terry, and Lamb each have their own plan menus set by CMS. Some rural counties in West Texas offer fewer Medicare Advantage plans than Lubbock County, while stand-alone Part D availability is generally consistent statewide because Part D regions are drawn much larger than MA service areas.

The takeaway: if you moved recently, or if you're helping a parent in a smaller town outside Lubbock, don't assume their choices match yours. Run their ZIP code separately on Medicare.gov.

What Star Ratings mean (and don't mean)

CMS rates Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts on a 1-to-5 scale each fall, looking at things like customer service, member complaints, and how well plans manage chronic conditions. A higher star score suggests stronger performance across those measures, but ratings are one input among many. They don't tell you whether your doctor is in-network or whether your medications are on the formulary — and those are usually the two biggest factors for a real person picking a plan.

The 2027 rules that apply everywhere

No matter which county you live in, some Medicare rules are set nationally for 2027:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your covered drug spending hits that amount, you pay nothing for covered Part D drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 for 2026 and $700 for 2027. Plans can charge less; they can't charge more.
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. You can ask your Part D plan to spread your drug costs into monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA — the higher-income surcharge on Part B and Part D — starts above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates to circle

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7, 2026. This is when most people join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan and want to change to a different one — or return to Original Medicare — this is your window.