Medicare Advantage

Kaiser Permanente's 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup in Seattle: a plan-by-plan look

SEATTLE — October 2026. If you have a Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage plan in the Seattle area, or you are weighing one for next year, here is what the carrier is putting on the shelf for 2027 — and how to check it against the doctors you see and the drugs you take before the December 7 deadline.

Seattle sits in King County, where Medicare Advantage availability is set. For plan year 2027, Kaiser Permanente is offering four Medicare Advantage plans in King County, all of them HMOs, and all four include prescription drug coverage. The carrier is not adding a new plan for 2027 and is not pulling any of its current plans. Every plan name appears, spelled exactly as CMS lists it, in the table below.

MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer news and education site. We are not Kaiser Permanente, and we are not Medicare. Kaiser is one of 11 carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans in King County next year; across all carriers, 59 plans are available locally.

What Kaiser Permanente is offering in King County for 2027

Kaiser Permanente's 2027 Seattle-area Medicare Advantage lineup, in alphabetical order:

• Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage Basic (HMO) — HMO, with drug coverage
• Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage Essential Kng (HMO) — HMO, with drug coverage
• Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage Key King (HMO) — HMO, with drug coverage
• Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage Optimal (HMO) — HMO, with drug coverage

All four are HMO plans, which generally means you use the plan's network of doctors and hospitals and, in most cases, get a referral to see a specialist. All four include Part D drug coverage, so you would not add a stand-alone drug plan on top. The carrier is not offering a Dual Eligible, Chronic Condition or Institutional Special Needs Plan (D-SNP, C-SNP or I-SNP) in King County for 2027.

We cannot publish premiums, copays, deductibles, extra benefits, provider networks or star ratings here — those are plan-specific details that belong in each plan's official documents and on the Medicare Plan Finder.

What is new, and what is not returning

For 2027 in King County, Kaiser Permanente has:

• 0 new plans
• 0 plans not returning
• 0 renamed plans

That does not mean the plans themselves are frozen. Every Medicare Advantage plan can adjust its costs, drug list (formulary), provider network and extra benefits from one year to the next. Those changes show up in your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), which Kaiser sends by late September each year. If you are a current member, dig that envelope out before you decide to stay put.

What 2027 looks like at the program level

A few program-wide numbers CMS has already set for 2027 that affect anyone with Medicare drug coverage:

• 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 Part D national base beneficiary premium for 2027 is $41.33 — that is a formula input CMS uses, not what any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the IRMAA income brackets, have not been announced yet. CMS typically publishes them in November. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the option to spread your drug costs across the year in level monthly amounts — continues in 2027.

How to check a plan against your doctors and prescriptions

Before December 7, run each plan you are considering through the same three checks:

1. Your doctors and hospitals. On medicare.gov's Plan Finder, open the plan and look at the provider directory, or call the plan directly to confirm your primary care doctor, specialists and preferred hospital are in-network for 2027. Networks can change at the start of a plan year. 2. Your prescriptions. Enter every medication you take, with the dose and pharmacy, into Plan Finder. It will show you how each plan covers the drug, what tier it sits on, and your estimated yearly cost. 3. The ANOC. If you are already in a Kaiser Permanente plan, compare this year's benefits to next year's using the Annual Notice of Change. Pay attention to the drug formulary and any extra benefits you actually use.

If you do nothing by December 7, your current plan simply renews for 2027 — with whatever changes the ANOC describes.

Dates to put on the calendar

• October 15 – December 7, 2026: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
• January 1 – March 31, 2027: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare (with a stand-alone Part D plan).