Medicare Advantage

Fitchburg 2027 Medicare Advantage: the 11 carriers and how the plans break down

People in Fitchburg can choose from 48 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 55 this year. Eleven of this year’s plans are gone, 4 are new to Dane County, and 31 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 9 of them under a new name.

FITCHBURG, Wis. — Fall 2026 is when Medicare shoppers here get their first full look at what 2027 coverage will look like, and the field for Fitchburg is a familiar one: 11 carriers offering 55 Medicare Advantage plans in Dane County, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source File. Annual Notices of Change are arriving in mailboxes now, and the Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, with any change you make taking effect January 1, 2027.

This article walks through who is selling Medicare Advantage in Fitchburg, what plan types are in the mix, and what to do if a plan you rely on is not coming back. The table below lists every plan by carrier.

The 2027 lineup, carrier by carrier

Eleven insurers file Medicare Advantage plans in Dane County for 2027. In alphabetical order, they are:

• Aetna (CVS Health) — 3 PPO plans (Aetna Medicare Eagle, Aetna Medicare Premier, Aetna Medicare Signature).
• Centene (WellCare) — 3 HMO-POS plans, two of which are Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans (Wellcare Dual Access Sync, Wellcare Dual Reserve, Wellcare Simple).
• Dean Advantage — 5 plans across HMO and HMO-POS (Dean Advantage Assurance, Balance, Complete, Essential, Harmony).
• Dean Health Plan, Inc. — 2 Medicare Cost plans (DeanCare Gold Enhanced, DeanCare Gold Shared Value).
• Elevance Health (Anthem) — 2 HMO D-SNPs (Anthem Full Dual Advantage, Anthem Full Dual Advantage 2).
• Humana — 12 plans across HMO, PFFS and PPO, one of them a Special Needs Plan.
• Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin — 2 HMO D-SNPs (iCare Family Care Partnership, and My Choice Wisconsin plans listed in the table).
• Network Health Medicare Advantage Plans — 1 MSA plan (Network Health Prime).
• Quartz Medicare Advantage (HMO) — 7 HMO plans under the UW Health Quartz Med Advantage line, one of which is a D-SNP.
• Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc. — 5 HMO-POS plans (Compass, Essence Rx, Esteem Rx, Legacy Rx, Spirit).
• UnitedHealthcare — 13 plans across HMO-POS and PPO, including AARP-branded plans and seven Special Needs Plans.

Every one of the 55 plans includes Part D drug coverage.

How the plan types break down

Under Medicare Advantage, the plan "type" tells you a lot about how you use the coverage — which doctors are in-network, whether you need referrals, and whether out-of-network care is covered.

For 2027 in Dane County, the lineup by type is:

• HMO — 15 plans
• HMO-POS — 19 plans
• PPO — 17 plans
• PFFS — 1 plan
• MSA — 1 plan
• Cost — 2 plans

That is a wider spread of plan types than most Wisconsin counties see. The two Medicare Cost plans (from Dean Health Plan) are unusual nationally — Cost plans work more like traditional Medicare with an added network layer, and are only available in certain areas.

Fifteen of the 55 plans are Special Needs Plans (SNPs) — coverage designed for people who qualify because they have both Medicare and Medicaid (D-SNP), a chronic condition (C-SNP), or live in a nursing home or need that level of care (I-SNP). SNPs are only available to people who meet the eligibility rules.

What is new and what is not coming back

CMS finalizes the 2027 Landscape file each fall, and Fitchburg's carrier roster for 2027 is stable — the same 11 insurers listed above are the ones filing for the coming year. There is no wholesale carrier exit from Dane County heading into 2027.

That said, individual plans do get retired, renamed, or consolidated every year. The only reliable way to know if your plan is coming back for 2027 is to read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your insurer mailed in September. It spells out what is changing — premium, drug list, network, cost sharing — and whether the plan is being discontinued.

If your plan is not returning in 2027

When a Medicare Advantage plan is not offered for the next year, that is called a non-renewal, and CMS gives affected members a Special Enrollment Period to choose new coverage. That SEP typically runs from December 8, 2026 through the end of February 2027, giving you time past the regular AEP deadline. You can:

• Enroll in a different Medicare Advantage plan, or
• Return to Original Medicare and add a stand-alone Part D drug plan, and
• Depending on your state's rules, apply for a Medigap policy (Wisconsin's Medigap system works differently from most states — the SHIP can walk you through it).

You are never forced into a specific replacement plan.

What is confirmed for 2027 — and what is not

A few program-wide numbers are already set for 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible goes 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 will charge.

Still to come from CMS, usually in November: the 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets for higher-income surcharges. If you want to plan around those figures, watch for the announcement rather than relying on projections.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan — the option to spread your Part D out-of-pocket drug costs across the year in level monthly payments — continues into 2027. You can opt in through your Part D or Medicare Advantage drug plan.

How to use the AEP window

Nothing happens to a person who does nothing: if your plan is offered in 2027, it renews automatically with the changes described in its ANOC. That is fine for many people. It is worth a look if:

• Your drug list, doctor, or clinic has changed.
• The ANOC shows a change to your premium, copays, or maximum out-of-pocket.
• You have moved, or are considering moving, in or out of the Fitchburg area.
• You have become eligible for Medicaid or a chronic-condition SNP.

You have from October 15 to December 7, 2026 to make one — or several — changes. Only the last one you submit counts. And there is a second window, Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment, from January 1 to March 31, 2027, when someone already in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch once.