Medicare Advantage

Snohomish County Medicare: Lynnwood 2027

Medicare in Lynnwood: how many plan options were available in Snohomish County for 2026, and how to compare for 2027.

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — If you're turning 65 soon or already on Medicare here in Lynnwood, you have a lot to sort through this fall. For 2026, Snohomish County residents could choose from 71 Medicare Advantage plans offered by 10 different carriers, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plan landscape data. The 2027 lineup is in each plan's ANOC and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

That's a big menu — and it's why so many neighbors feel stuck when the mail starts piling up this October. This guide walks through what those numbers mean, what's changing for 2027, and how to work through your options without getting overwhelmed.

What "71 plans" actually means for Lynnwood

Medicare plan availability is set at the county level, not the city level. Lynnwood is in Snohomish County, where CMS listed 71 Medicare Advantage plans for the 2026 plan year; the 2027 count is in each plan's ANOC and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. Not every plan is designed for every person — some are HMOs, some are PPOs, some are built for people with specific chronic conditions, and some are Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) for people who also qualify for Medicaid.

A few local context points worth knowing:

• 10 carriers are offering Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans in the county.
• Snohomish County is home to roughly 124,763 people age 65 and older, so this is a large and competitive market.
• For 2026, CMS data showed 0 stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans listed separately in the county's landscape file for this area. The 2027 landscape is on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. If you have Original Medicare and need drug coverage, that's something to confirm carefully with the Plan Finder or a SHIP counselor before you enroll.

The takeaway: you have choice, but choice can feel like noise. A little structure helps.

The pieces of Medicare, in plain English

Before comparing 71 anything, it helps to remember the four building blocks:

• Part A — hospital insurance.
• Part B — doctor visits and outpatient care.
• Part C (Medicare Advantage) — a private plan that bundles A, B, and usually drug coverage.
• Part D — prescription drug coverage, either stand-alone or built into an Advantage plan.

Most people in Lynnwood are choosing between two paths: Original Medicare (Parts A and B), often paired with a Medigap policy and a Part D drug plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan that packages it together. Neither path is automatically better — it depends on your doctors, your prescriptions, your travel habits, and your budget.

What's genuinely new for 2027

A few program-wide changes matter no matter which plan you pick:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap. The cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered prescriptions hits the cap, you pay nothing more for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D deductible capped at $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027). Individual plans can charge less, but not more.
• The "donut hole" is gone. As of 2025, Part D has three phases instead of four. That structure continues into 2027.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. This is an optional program that lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA thresholds. Higher-income enrollees pay surcharges on Part B and Part D premiums. For 2026, the surcharge begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer (higher for joint filers).

These are program rules — they apply the same in Lynnwood as they do anywhere else in the country.

How to narrow 71 options without losing your weekend

Here's a simple order of operations that works for most people:

1. Start with your doctors. Make a list of the providers you want to keep — primary care, specialists, and your preferred hospital system in the Puget Sound area. Any plan you consider should include them in-network. 2. Then your prescriptions. Put your drug list (with doses) into the Plan Finder at Medicare.gov. This is the single biggest cost driver most people miss. 3. Then plan type. HMO plans usually require referrals and in-network care. PPOs are more flexible but often cost more. If you have Medicaid too, a D-SNP may fit. 4. Then extras. Dental, vision, hearing, fitness, and over-the-counter benefits vary widely. Nice to have, but not the first filter. 5. Then Star Ratings. CMS rates plans on a 1–5 scale for quality and customer experience. Ratings are useful context — they are not a recommendation, and they change year to year.

Star Ratings, briefly

Star Ratings measure things like customer service, member complaints, and how well plans manage chronic conditions. They're published by CMS each fall. For the current Snohomish County landscape, CMS data shows 0 contracts rated 4 stars or higher among the plans listed for the area — a reminder that ratings shift and that they're one input among many, not the whole picture. Use them alongside network and drug coverage, not instead of them.

Key dates to circle

• October 15 – December 7, 2026: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. This is when you can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.

Miss the window, and you may be locked in until next fall unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (moving, losing other coverage, and similar life events).