Medicare Advantage

No Star Rating yet? What that means for 9 Spokane plans

People in Spokane can choose from 47 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 59 this year. 21 of this year’s plans are gone, 9 are new to Spokane County, and 28 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 10 of them under a new name.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Fall 2026. Nine Medicare Advantage plans will be sold in Spokane County for the first time in 2027, joining a lineup that is otherwise mostly familiar names. The new plans come from five carriers, and most are built for people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. If one catches your eye during Annual Enrollment 2027, there are a few things worth checking before the December 7 deadline.

What Medicare Advantage plans are new in Spokane for 2027?

Nine Medicare Advantage plans are new to Spokane County for 2027. Spokane is in Spokane County, which is the geography CMS uses to set plan availability, so these new plans are available to anyone with Medicare who lives in the county.

The nine new plans, listed alphabetically by carrier, are:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — Aetna Medicare Eagle (HMO); HMO; without drug coverage
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — Wellpoint Dual Advantage (HMO D-SNP); Wellpoint Dual Advantage Plus (HMO D-SNP); Wellpoint Full Dual Advantage (HMO D-SNP); all with drug coverage
• Molina Healthcare of Washington, Inc. — Molina Medicare Elect (HMO D-SNP); with drug coverage
• MultiCare Health Plan Medicare Advantage Evergreen Plans — MultiCare Health Plan Evergreen Enhanced (HMO); MultiCare Health Plan Evergreen Essential (HMO); both with drug coverage
• UnitedHealthcare — AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC WA-19 (PPO); UHC Complete Care Support WA-2A (HMO-POS C-SNP); both with drug coverage

The table on this page shows every 2027 plan available in the county, new and returning.

Which carriers are adding new plans in Spokane County for 2027?

Five carriers are introducing new Medicare Advantage plans in Spokane County for 2027: Aetna (CVS Health) with one, Elevance Health (Anthem) with three, Molina Healthcare of Washington with one, MultiCare Health Plan Medicare Advantage Evergreen Plans with two, and UnitedHealthcare with two.

MultiCare's Evergreen Plans are worth noting because the brand itself is new to this market segment locally — so this is a carrier debut, not just a new product line from a familiar name.

What plan types and Special Needs Plans are among Spokane's new 2027 options?

Of the nine new plans in Spokane County for 2027, most are HMO or HMO-POS and one is a PPO.

Five of the nine new plans are Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), designed for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid: the three Wellpoint D-SNPs from Elevance Health, Molina Medicare Elect, and UHC Dual-focused options. One is a Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan (C-SNP) — UHC Complete Care Support WA-2A — which is limited to people with specific qualifying conditions.

Eight of the nine new plans include Part D prescription drug coverage. The one exception is Aetna Medicare Eagle (HMO), which is offered without drug coverage; a member who wants Part D would generally need a separate strategy for prescriptions, since joining a standalone Part D plan while enrolled in most Medicare Advantage plans can cause you to be disenrolled from the Advantage plan.

How is a brand-new plan different from one that is just renewing?

A new plan has no history yet — no Star Rating, no member experience scores, no complaint data on file at CMS. Star Ratings are calculated from prior years of plan performance, so a plan that did not exist last year has nothing to rate. That is a program fact, not a reason to pick or skip a plan; it just means the usual rating shortcut is not available this cycle.

A renewing plan, by contrast, has a track record you can look up on medicare.gov, along with an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) that tells current members what is changing for 2027. If your current plan is renewing, read your ANOC closely — the plan can change its premium, drug list, provider network, or extra benefits from one year to the next.

In Spokane County, CMS data shows 21 plans are not returning for 2027, 9 are new, and 10 have been renamed (a rename means a change exists; the ANOC will spell it out).

How do I check a new plan against my doctors and prescriptions before December 7?

The most reliable way is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter your ZIP code, add your prescriptions and preferred pharmacy, and the tool will show how each plan handles your drug list. Then open the plan's own provider directory — linked from its page — and search for each of your doctors and specialists by name. Networks can look similar across plans but differ at the specialist level.

Three practical checks before you enroll:

1. Doctors. Search the plan's online directory, and call your doctor's billing office to confirm they will accept the specific plan for 2027. Directories can lag behind contracting changes. 2. Prescriptions. Check that each drug is on the plan's formulary, note its tier, and look for prior-authorization or step-therapy flags. 3. Pharmacies. Confirm your pharmacy is in the plan's preferred network, which can affect what you pay at the counter.

If you prefer to talk to someone, 1-800-MEDICARE is open 24/7, and the Medicare Plan Finder can walk you through the same comparison online.

What dates and figures should Spokane readers keep in mind for 2027?

Annual Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan renews for 2027 if it is still being offered, with the terms described in its ANOC. Medicare Advantage members have a second window — the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2027 — to make one change if the plan they picked is not working out.

A few program-level 2027 figures CMS has already confirmed:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap will be $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• The Part D maximum deductible will be $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• The Part D national base beneficiary premium is $41.33 for 2027 — a formula input, not what any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not yet been announced; CMS typically publishes them later in the fall.