Medicare Advantage

Virginia Beach 2027: 15 D-SNPs From Five Carriers

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, Va. — If you have both Medicare and Medicaid, the fall 2026 enrollment season brings a specific set of choices built just for you. For 2027, Virginia Beach city has 15 Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) from five carriers, part of the broader Medicare Advantage lineup available in the county. These plans are designed to coordinate your Medicare and Medicaid benefits in one place — and the rules for joining or switching them are more flexible than they are for most people on Medicare.

Here is how the local picture looks for 2027, who qualifies, and how to confirm where you stand before you make a change.

What a D-SNP is, in plain language

A Dual Special Needs Plan is a type of Medicare Advantage plan built for people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. Like other Medicare Advantage plans, D-SNPs include Part A, Part B, and (in every case in Virginia Beach) Part D drug coverage. What makes them different is that they are designed to work alongside your Medicaid benefits — things like help with Medicare cost sharing, long-term services, or extra benefits Medicaid provides in Virginia.

Some D-SNPs are what CMS calls "fully integrated" or "highly integrated," meaning the same insurer manages both your Medicare and Medicaid coverage. Others are built for people whose Medicaid only pays part of their Medicare costs (for example, the QMB program). The plan name often hints at which group it is for, but the plan's enrollment materials and your Medicaid status are what actually decide eligibility.

The 2027 D-SNP lineup in Virginia Beach

For plan year 2027, CMS lists 15 D-SNPs in Virginia Beach city, offered by five carriers:

• Aetna (CVS Health): 1 D-SNP
• Elevance Health (Anthem): 4 D-SNPs
• Humana: 3 D-SNPs
• Sentara Medicare: 2 D-SNPs
• UnitedHealthcare: 5 D-SNPs

The table below lists every D-SNP by carrier, with its plan type and drug coverage. A few plans carry new names for 2027 — for example, two Anthem Dual Advantage plans are now called Anthem Dual Advantage Plus, Humana Gold Plus SNP-DE H2875-002 is now Humana Dual QMB Only, and two UHC Dual Complete plans (VA-V001 and VA-Y001) have been renamed to UHC Dual Advantage VA-V1 and UHC Dual Complete VA-YL. The plans themselves are not new; the names on the paperwork are. Your plan's Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), mailed in September, spells out what changed for your specific plan.

Virginia Beach is in Virginia Beach city, where plan availability is set at the county level, so these counts apply to anyone with a Virginia Beach ZIP code.

Who qualifies: full vs. partial dual eligibility

To join any D-SNP, you need Medicare (Parts A and B) and some form of Medicaid help. Virginia's Medicaid program, Cardinal Care, decides your category. The common ones are:

• Full-benefit dual eligible (FBDE): You get full Virginia Medicaid, which can include long-term services and supports.
• Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB): Medicaid pays your Medicare premiums and cost sharing, but you may not get the full Medicaid benefit package.
• Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) and Qualifying Individual (QI): Medicaid helps pay your Part B premium only.

Each D-SNP is approved to serve one or more of these groups. A "full dual" plan is for people with full Medicaid; a "QMB only" plan is for people in that specific category. If you apply for a plan you don't qualify for, the insurer will tell you — but it saves time to check first.

How often you can change plans

Most people with Medicare can only change plans during the Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, 2026, for coverage that starts Jan. 1, 2027) or the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (Jan. 1 – March 31). People with both Medicare and Medicaid, or with Extra Help, get extra opportunities through a Special Enrollment Period:

• Once per calendar quarter in Q1, Q2 and Q3, you can make one change — for example, switch D-SNPs or move from a D-SNP back to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan.
• Monthly chance to join an integrated D-SNP in some situations, if one is available where you live and matches your Medicaid status.
• The regular fall window (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7) and Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment (Jan. 1 – March 31) still apply.
• If your Medicaid status changes (you lose it, gain it, or move categories), that itself can trigger a Special Enrollment Period.

CMS has been adjusting these dual-eligible SEP rules in recent years, so confirm the current version with 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) before you act.

How to confirm your eligibility

Three quick steps before you shop:

1. Confirm your Medicaid category with Virginia's Department of Medical Assistance Services (Cardinal Care) at coverva.org or by calling Cover Virginia at 1-855-242-8282. Ask whether you are full dual, QMB, SLMB or QI — the words matter when matching you to a plan. 2. Confirm your Medicare enrollment at medicare.gov/account or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE. Make sure Parts A and B are active. 3. Compare D-SNPs on the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare. Filter for Special Needs Plans and enter your ZIP code to see the 15 D-SNPs available in Virginia Beach, side by side, with the current year's benefit details.

What else is new for 2027

A couple of program-wide changes affect every Medicare drug plan, including D-SNPs:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible rises to $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — which lets you spread drug costs across the year in level monthly payments — continues to be available on request.

CMS has not yet announced the 2027 Part B standard premium, deductible, or IRMAA brackets; those usually come out in November. For D-SNP members, Medicaid often covers Part B premiums anyway, but it's worth knowing the figures when they land.