Medicare Advantage

Richmond's Medicare Advantage lineup for 2027: 10 brand-new plans to weigh before Dec. 7

People in Richmond can choose from 74 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 72 this year. Eight of this year’s plans are gone, 10 are new to Richmond city, and 42 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 14 of them under a new name.

Richmond, Va. — Fall 2026. Ten Medicare Advantage plans that were not sold in Richmond city last year are on the shelf for 2027, and three carriers — Devoted Health, Humana and UnitedHealthcare — are the ones adding them. If you are shopping during Annual Enrollment, which runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, these are the plans with no local track record yet, and a few steps can tell you quickly whether one fits your doctors and prescriptions.

What Medicare Advantage plans are new in Richmond for 2027?

Ten Medicare Advantage plans are new in Richmond city for 2027, out of 74 total offered there next year. They come from three carriers: Devoted Health (2 new plans), Humana (4 new plans) and UnitedHealthcare (4 new plans). The rest of the lineup is made up of plans that are renewing, some of them with new names and updated terms.

Here are the new plans for 2027, in alphabetical order by carrier, exactly as CMS lists them:

• DEVOTED C-SNP GIVEBACK EXTRAS 027 VA (HMO C-SNP) — Devoted Health; HMO C-SNP; with drug coverage
• DEVOTED GIVEBACK EXTRAS 031 VA (HMO) — Devoted Health; HMO; with drug coverage
• Humana DaVita Kidney Care (PPO C-SNP) — Humana; PPO C-SNP; with drug coverage
• Humana DaVita Kidney Care (PPO C-SNP) — Humana; PPO C-SNP; with drug coverage
• Humana Together in Health (PPO I-SNP) — Humana; PPO I-SNP; with drug coverage
• HumanaChoice H7617-125 (PPO) — Humana; PPO; with drug coverage
• AARP Medicare Advantage Direct OTC from UHC VA-28 (HMO-POS) — UnitedHealthcare; HMO-POS; with drug coverage
• AARP Medicare Advantage Direct Plus from UHC VA-24 (HMO-POS) — UnitedHealthcare; HMO-POS; with drug coverage
• AARP Medicare Advantage Essentials from UHC VA-11 (HMO-POS) — UnitedHealthcare; HMO-POS; with drug coverage
• AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC VA-0012 (HMO-POS) — UnitedHealthcare; HMO-POS; with drug coverage

The table on this page lists every 2027 plan available in the county, new and renewing.

What plan types and Special Needs Plans are among Richmond's new 2027 options?

All 10 new plans in Richmond city for 2027 include prescription drug coverage. By plan type, five are HMO-POS plans, three are PPOs (two of them C-SNPs), one is a straight HMO and one is a straight HMO C-SNP.

Several of the new plans are Special Needs Plans (SNPs), which are designed for people who meet specific eligibility rules:

• Chronic Condition SNPs (C-SNPs) are for people with certain chronic conditions. The new C-SNPs in Richmond for 2027 are DEVOTED C-SNP GIVEBACK EXTRAS 027 VA (HMO C-SNP) and the two Humana DaVita Kidney Care (PPO C-SNP) plans.
• An Institutional SNP (I-SNP) is for people who live in, or need the level of care provided in, a long-term care setting. Humana Together in Health (PPO I-SNP) is the new I-SNP.

If you are not sure whether you qualify for an SNP, Medicare.gov and 1-800-MEDICARE can walk you through the rules.

How is a new plan different from a renewing one?

A new plan for 2027 is a plan that was not offered in Richmond city in 2026, so there is no local history to look back on — no prior-year Star Rating for that specific plan, no past Annual Notice of Change, and no neighbors who were enrolled in it last year. That is a program fact, not a judgment: CMS gives a plan its own Star Rating once it has been running long enough to measure.

A renewing plan, by contrast, continues from this year into next year, often with changes. Those changes — to premium, deductible, drug list, provider network, extra benefits, or even the plan's name — are described in the ANOC your current carrier mails each fall. In Richmond city, CMS data show 14 plans are being renamed for 2027, so if a plan you recognize sounds slightly different in the mail, it may be the same plan with a new label; the ANOC will say.

Eight plans offered in Richmond city for 2026 are not returning for 2027. If you are in one of those, your carrier is required to send a non-renewal notice, and you have a Special Enrollment Period to choose a new plan.

How do I check a new 2027 plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

The fastest way is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. You enter your ZIP code, add the drugs you take with doses and pharmacies, and the tool shows each plan's estimated drug costs, formulary tier for your medications, and whether the plan is an HMO, PPO, HMO-POS or PFFS. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A quick checklist for any plan you are considering, new or renewing:

1. Pull up the plan on Medicare.gov and confirm it is offered in your ZIP code for 2027. 2. Check the plan's provider directory for every doctor, specialist and hospital you want to keep. For a new plan, call the office directly to confirm they take that specific plan name for 2027 — a practice may be in the network for one plan from a carrier and not another. 3. Add your prescriptions to Plan Finder to see each drug's tier, any restrictions (like prior authorization), and the pharmacies with the best price. 4. Read the plan's Summary of Benefits and, if you want more detail, its Evidence of Coverage. 5. If drug costs are a concern, remember the Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026), and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs over the year.

Any change you make during Annual Enrollment 2027 takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan renews — assuming it is still offered — with the terms in its ANOC.

What does Richmond's full 2027 Medicare Advantage picture look like?

Richmond is in Richmond city, where CMS counts 72 Medicare Advantage plans from 8 carriers for 2026, and 74 plans for 2027 once the 8 non-returning plans drop off and the 10 new plans come on. The carriers serving the county are Aetna (CVS Health), Blue Cross Blue Shield (HCSC), Devoted Health, Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana, Lifeworks Advantage, Sentara Medicare and UnitedHealthcare.

Two 2027 Medicare figures CMS has not yet published are the standard Part B premium and deductible and the IRMAA income brackets. Those are usually announced later in the fall. The table on this page is the one place to see every available plan side by side.