Medicare Advantage

What’s Changing in West Virginia Medicare Advantage for 2027: 11 Leaving, 22 Changing

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginians on Medicare Advantage will see a reshuffled menu of plans when the 2027 plan year begins. According to the federal Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files comparing contract year 2026 with contract year 2027, the state will have 70 Medicare Advantage plans available for 2027, up from 69 in 2026. But the headline count hides the churn underneath: 11 plans offered somewhere in West Virginia in 2026 will not be offered anywhere in the state for 2027, and another 22 plans that are sticking around will look at least a little different in at least one county.

Medicare AdvantageWest Virginia

All 55 West Virginia counties see at least one plan leave or change for 2027.

What the statewide numbers mean

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes a Landscape Source File each year that lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in every county. Comparing the 2026 and 2027 files, counting each plan once statewide no matter how many counties it serves, produces the picture for West Virginia:

• 69 plans offered for 2026; 70 for 2027.
• 11 plans leaving — offered somewhere in West Virginia for 2026, nowhere for 2027.
• 22 plans changing — offered both years but with a different premium, drug deductible, plan type or plan name in at least one county.
• 12 plans new for 2027.
• 36 plans continuing unchanged.

In CMS's bookkeeping, "leaving" means the plan simply isn't on the 2027 file for any West Virginia county. "Changing" is a narrower term: the same plan appears in both years' files, but at least one of four fields — premium, drug deductible, plan type, or plan name — is different in at least one county. A plan can be "changing" because of something small or something large; the Landscape file doesn't say which. The Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your carrier mails you does.

One carrier is new to West Virginia for 2027: Communicare Advantage.

If your plan is leaving

If your 2026 plan is on the "leaving" list, your carrier is required to send you a non-renewal notice. You will not be dropped from Medicare — your Original Medicare (Parts A and B) continues — but your Medicare Advantage plan ends December 31, 2026.

Two things to know:

1. You get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP). Members whose plans are not renewed have an SEP that runs through the end of February 2027 to choose a new Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare (and, if desired, add a stand-alone Part D drug plan). That's a cushion beyond the regular Annual Enrollment Period. 2. If you do nothing, you don't stay on the same plan — because the plan no longer exists. You default back to Original Medicare on January 1, 2027, without Part D drug coverage unless you act. That's why the SEP matters.

If your plan is changing

If your plan is one of the 22 "changing" plans, it will still be available for 2027, but something in the CMS file is different in at least one county. The specifics live in your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), which carriers mail in September. Read it. Compare it to how you actually used the plan in 2026 — your doctors, your pharmacy, your prescriptions.

If you do nothing, you stay enrolled in the renewing plan with the changes described in the ANOC taking effect January 1, 2027.

The counties with the most change

Every county in West Virginia sees at least one plan leave or change. A few counties stand out in the raw counts from the Landscape files:

• Webster County: 15 leaving, 13 changing
• Nicholas County: 12 leaving, 15 changing
• Tyler County: 16 leaving, 11 changing
• Wirt County: 12 leaving, 15 changing
• Wood County: 13 leaving, 14 changing
• Clay County: 12 leaving, 14 changing
• Doddridge County: 13 leaving, 13 changing
• Fayette County: 8 leaving, 18 changing

These counts reflect how many plans available in that county in 2026 are either gone or differ in the 2027 file. If you live in one of these counties, the odds that your specific plan is affected are higher than average — but every West Virginia county has some movement, so no one should skip the mail from their carrier.

What to do before December 7

The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) runs October 15 – December 7, 2026. A choice you make during that window takes effect January 1, 2027.

A simple checklist:

1. Open the ANOC and non-renewal notice when they arrive in September and October 2026. 2. Make a short list: your doctors, your pharmacy, your prescriptions, any specialists you expect to see. 3. Use Medicare's Plan Finder at Medicare.gov to compare 2027 options for your ZIP code. 4. If your plan is leaving, remember you have the SEP through the end of February 2027 — but acting during AEP means coverage starts cleanly on January 1. 5. If your plan is changing, decide whether the 2027 version still fits.

Where to get free help

You don't have to figure this out alone, and you don't have to pay anyone to help you.

• Medicare.gov — the official Plan Finder lets you compare every 2027 plan available in your county.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — available 24/7.
• West Virginia SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) — free, unbiased, one-on-one Medicare counseling from trained local counselors. SHIP does not sell insurance.