Medicare Advantage

Before AEP: what Seattle's 2026 MA menu looks like

King County has 49 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 27 plans are not coming back, 18 are new, and 31 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 10 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Seattle, not which plan to pick.

Medicare AdvantageSeattle, WA

Seattle shoppers comparing Medicare Advantage coverage for 2027 have a menu to sort through. According to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File, 49 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 carriers are being offered in King County — which includes Seattle — for the 2027 plan year. The full roster, with each plan's type and drug-coverage status, is in the table below.

What "available in Seattle" actually means

Medicare Advantage plans are approved by CMS at the county level, not the city level. Seattle sits inside King County, so every plan available to a Seattle resident is a plan CMS has approved for King County. If you live just over the county line, the list can look different — even if your ZIP code feels close to Seattle.

That is why the table below is labeled by county. It is drawn from the CMS 2027 Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File, the same file the Medicare Plan Finder uses.

The carriers offering plans in King County for 2027

Eleven carriers are selling Medicare Advantage plans in the county for 2027, including Devoted Health, which is new to King County. In alphabetical order, they are:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 5 plans
• AgeRight Advantage — 2 plans
• Centene (WellCare) — 8 plans
• Community Health Plan of WA Medicare Advantage — 2 plans
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — 2 plans
• Humana — 19 plans
• Kaiser Permanente — 4 plans
• Molina Healthcare of Washington, Inc. — 2 plans
• Regence BlueShield — 2 plans
• UnitedHealthcare — 22 plans

The table below lists every plan by name, along with its plan type (HMO, HMO-POS or PPO) and whether it is a Special Needs Plan.

How the plan types differ

Most of what you will see in the list falls into one of three shapes:

• HMO plans (24 in the county) generally ask you to use an in-network doctor and get referrals for specialists.
• HMO-POS plans (15) are HMOs with a "point of service" option that lets you go out of network for certain services, usually at a higher share of cost.
• PPO plans (29) let you see out-of-network providers, again usually at a higher cost share.

Thirty-one of the 68 plans are Special Needs Plans (SNPs). Those are limited to people who meet specific rules — most commonly D-SNPs for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, C-SNPs for people with certain chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease, and I-SNPs for people living in a nursing home or a similar setting. If you do not meet the eligibility rule for a SNP, you cannot enroll in it.

Drug coverage is built in

There are no stand-alone Part D drug plans listed for the county in the 2027 landscape file, which is unusual — most people who want drug coverage will get it through their Medicare Advantage plan.

A few program-level Part D facts to keep in mind for 2027:

• Out-of-pocket drug costs are capped at $2,100 per year.
• The maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge is $615.
• The old coverage gap ("donut hole") was eliminated in 2025; Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments at no added charge.

Dates and income thresholds to know

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7. Changes take effect January 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 – March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch plans or go back to Original Medicare.
• IRMAA (the income-related surcharge on Part B and Part D premiums) starts above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

How to compare plans on the list

Because CMS rules prohibit us from attaching costs, benefits, networks or star ratings to any specific plan name, the next step is to look each plan up in a tool built for that:

1. Go to medicare.gov/plan-compare and enter your ZIP code and your drug list. 2. Look at the total picture — premium, deductible, copays, drug tiers, provider network and star rating — not any one number. 3. If you take specific medications or see specific doctors, check both before you enroll. 4. For free, unbiased help, contact Washington's SHIBA program (Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors), Washington's SHIP.