Medicare Advantage

Before you renew in Virginia Beach: a plain checklist for 2027 Medicare Advantage

Virginia Beach city has 70 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 3 plans are not coming back, 6 are new, and 45 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 16 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Virginia Beach, not which plan to pick.

VIRGINIA BEACH — The Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 Medicare coverage is open now and runs through Dec. 7, 2026. Any change you make in that window takes effect Jan. 1, 2027 — and if you do nothing, your current Medicare Advantage plan simply renews, with whatever changes are spelled out in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your insurer mailed in late September.

That makes this a good month to open the ANOC, pull up the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, and work through a short checklist before the deadline.

What's on the table in Virginia Beach for 2027

Virginia Beach is in Virginia Beach city, and Medicare plan availability is set at the county level. For 2027, CMS lists 70 Medicare Advantage plans from 6 carriers in the county — 18 HMO, 20 HMO-POS, 30 PPO, and 2 PFFS plans. All 70 include drug coverage.

Six plans are new for 2027 and three are not returning. The carriers offering plans next year, in alphabetical order, are Aetna (CVS Health) with 6 plans, Elevance Health (Anthem) with 12, Humana with 34, Lifeworks Advantage with 2, Sentara Medicare with 2, and UnitedHealthcare with 14. The table below lists every plan.

Special Needs Plans available in the county

Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are Medicare Advantage plans built around a specific group. The county has three kinds for 2027:

• D-SNPs (for people with both Medicare and Medicaid): 15 plans.
• C-SNPs (for people with certain chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart conditions): 8 plans.
• I-SNPs (for people living in a nursing home or needing that level of care): 5 plans.

If you qualify for a SNP, it is worth comparing it alongside the general-market plans — the extra benefits and care coordination are built around the condition or situation you are already managing.

A six-step way to compare plans before Dec. 7

Working through the same short list for each plan on your shortlist makes it easier to tell them apart.

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC). Your current plan sent one by late September. It shows what is changing for 2027 — premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, provider network, extra benefits. If nothing in the ANOC bothers you, you may not need to switch.

2. Check your doctors and hospitals. Each plan has its own network. Call your doctor's office and ask which 2027 Medicare Advantage plans they will be in-network for — "accepts Medicare" is not the same as "in network for this plan." Do the same for the hospital system you'd want to use.

3. Check your prescriptions. On the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, enter each drug you take, the dose, and how often. The tool shows each plan's estimated yearly drug cost based on your actual list, which is far more useful than comparing deductibles alone.

4. Check your pharmacy. Plans have preferred and standard pharmacies, and mail order is often priced differently. The same drug can cost different amounts at different pharmacies on the same plan.

5. Look at the plan type and the rules. HMO plans usually require you to stay in-network and pick a primary care doctor. HMO-POS adds some out-of-network coverage. PPO plans generally let you see out-of-network providers at a higher cost. PFFS plans work differently again. Which rules fit your life matters as much as the price.

6. Note the total out-of-pocket maximum. Every Medicare Advantage plan has a yearly cap on what you pay for medical services. That cap, plus the 2027 Part D out-of-pocket drug cap of $2,400, tells you your worst-case year.

What's new at the program level for 2027

Two Part D numbers are confirmed for 2027: the out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs rises to $2,400 (from $2,100 in 2026), and the maximum Part D deductible rises to $700 (from $615 in 2026). The national base beneficiary premium for Part D is $41.33 for 2027 — that is a formula input, not what any particular plan charges.

CMS has not yet announced the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible or the 2027 IRMAA income brackets; those are usually released in November. If a Part B figure matters to your decision, check medicare.gov after the announcement.

If paying for prescriptions in one hit is a concern, ask whether the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the optional monthly smoothing program — makes sense for you. It spreads your yearly drug costs across the calendar year instead of hitting at the pharmacy counter.

If you do nothing

Nothing happens to someone who takes no action in the Annual Enrollment Period: your current plan renews for 2027 if it is being offered, with the changes in the ANOC. If your plan is one of the three not returning in the county, your insurer is required to send a non-renewal notice, and you have a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan.

There is also a backup window. From Jan. 1 through March 31, 2027, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period lets anyone already in a Medicare Advantage plan switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare once.

Where to get personalized help

The Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov is the official tool for comparing plans in your ZIP code — it will show the full 2027 lineup for Virginia Beach city and let you enter your drugs and pharmacies. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For plan-specific details — the exact provider directory, the Evidence of Coverage, which pharmacy is preferred — go directly to the insurer.