Medicare Advantage

Have Diabetes or Heart Disease? C-SNP Rules for Plano

For 2027, Plano is looking at 81 Medicare Advantage plans: 21 new, 37 gone since 2026, and 30 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 9 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Collin County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

PLANO, Texas — Fall 2026. If you live with a long-term health condition like diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease, you may have seen plans called "C-SNPs" while comparing Medicare Advantage options for 2027. These are a special kind of Medicare Advantage plan built around a qualifying diagnosis — and for Collin County, which is where Plano sits, CMS has posted the 2027 lineup. Here is how C-SNPs work, which carriers offer them in the county, and how a qualifying diagnosis fits into enrollment.

What is a C-SNP, and how does it work in Plano for 2027?

A C-SNP, or Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan, is a type of Medicare Advantage plan that only enrolls people who have a specific chronic condition. CMS sets the list of qualifying conditions — examples include diabetes, chronic heart failure, and end-stage renal disease — and each C-SNP is designed around one or more of them.

Like other Medicare Advantage plans, a C-SNP replaces Original Medicare as the way your Part A and Part B benefits are delivered, and most C-SNPs also include Part D drug coverage. What makes a C-SNP different is that the care team, drug list and extra benefits are shaped around the condition the plan serves. The specifics — doctors, hospitals, drugs covered, costs — are in each plan's Evidence of Coverage, which you can pull up on medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

How many C-SNPs are offered in Collin County for 2027?

Collin County has 12 C-SNPs for 2027, out of 81 Medicare Advantage plans overall. Alongside them, the county also has 22 Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, and 7 Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs), for people in long-term care settings. Those are separate programs with their own eligibility rules.

Plan availability is set at the county level by CMS, so the same 12 C-SNPs are offered everywhere in Collin County — Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen and the rest.

Which carriers offer C-SNPs in Collin County for 2027?

Six carriers offer C-SNPs in Collin County for 2027. In alphabetical order:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 1 C-SNP
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — 2 C-SNPs
• Humana — 4 C-SNPs
• ProCare Advantage — 2 C-SNPs
• UnitedHealthcare — 2 C-SNPs
• Verda Health Plan of Texas — 1 C-SNP

The table below lists every C-SNP by name. By carrier, the 2027 plans are: Aetna Medicare Chronic Care Total (HMO C-SNP), which is renamed from the 2026 Aetna Medicare Prime Chronic Total; Wellpoint Chronic Care (HMO-POS C-SNP) and Wellpoint Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP) from Elevance Health (Anthem); Humana DaVita Kidney Care (PPO C-SNP), new for 2027, and Humana Gold Plus - Diabetes and Heart (HMO C-SNP); ProCare Advantage - Diabetes Care Management (HMO-POS C-SNP) and ProCare Advantage - Kidney Care (HMO-POS C-SNP); UHC Complete Care TX-29 (Regional PPO C-SNP) and UHC Complete Care TX-3P (HMO-POS C-SNP); and Verda Noble Chronic Care (HMO C-SNP). We can only say which condition a plan is built around when the plan's own name says so.

How does someone in Plano actually qualify for a C-SNP?

Enrolling in a C-SNP requires a qualifying chronic condition that a provider confirms. When you apply, the plan sends a short form (sometimes called a pre-enrollment qualification form) to your doctor or another treating provider, who verifies the diagnosis. If the provider does not confirm the condition within the time window the plan allows, the enrollment does not go through.

You stay in the plan as long as you continue to have the qualifying condition. If the plan cannot verify that you still qualify, it must disenroll you and send you back to Original Medicare, with a Special Enrollment Period to pick a different plan.

What enrollment period applies if you have a qualifying condition?

People who are newly diagnosed with a C-SNP-qualifying chronic condition get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) to join a C-SNP outside the usual windows. In other words, you do not have to wait until the Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, 2026) to make the move — you can enroll when you qualify.

The regular Medicare calendar still matters, too. During Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, 2026, anyone with Medicare can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for coverage that starts Jan. 1, 2027. And from Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, 2027, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period lets people already in a Medicare Advantage plan make one change.

What else is changing in Collin County for 2027?

In Collin County, 21 Medicare Advantage plans are new for 2027, 37 are not returning, and 9 have been renamed. If your current plan is one of those, your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), mailed in September, spells out exactly what is changing and what your options are. If you take no action, your plan simply renews for 2027 — if it is still offered — with the updates in the ANOC.

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