Medicare Advantage

Medicare in Madison: Dane County Options for 2027

People in Madison 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.

How many Medicare Advantage plans are available in Dane County, Wisconsin for 2027, plus key Part D changes and enrollment dates.

MADISON, Wis. — If you're turning 65 in Madison or rethinking your Medicare coverage for 2027, the first question is usually the simplest: how many choices do I actually have? For people living in Dane County, the answer this fall shapes the rest of the decision — and knowing the local landscape can make it feel less overwhelming.

Medicare plan availability is set at the county level, not the city level, so every Madison resident sees the same menu as their neighbors across Dane County. Here's what that menu looks like for 2027, plus the program-wide changes worth knowing before Annual Enrollment closes on Dec. 7, 2026.

How many Medicare options are in Dane County?

For 2027, Dane County has 39 Medicare Advantage plans on the menu, spread across 10 carriers offering MA-PD (Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage). That's down from 55 plans and 11 carriers in 2026 — Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc. is not offering plans in the county next year. Of the plans on the 2027 menu, 35 are continuing, 4 are new, 9 have been renamed, and 22 continuing plans changed something in their terms (details are in each plan's ANOC). Eleven 2026 plans are not returning.

A few notes to keep the count in perspective:

• The 55 figure is the total number of Medicare Advantage plans available to someone with a Dane County ZIP code. Not every plan will fit every person's doctors, prescriptions, or budget.
• Dane County shows 0 stand-alone Part D plans in the current landscape data pulled for this article. If you stick with Original Medicare and want drug coverage, double-check current Part D availability on medicare.gov's Plan Finder before you enroll.
• Roughly 86,000 people age 65 and older live in Dane County, so this is a market carriers pay attention to.

Why the number of plans matters (and why it doesn't)

A bigger menu isn't automatically better. What matters more is whether your doctors, your hospital system, and your prescriptions line up with a plan's network and formulary. In a college town and regional medical hub like Madison, that can vary a lot from one plan to the next.

If you already have Medicare, the safest move this fall is a quick check: has your current plan changed for 2027? Carriers send an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) each September. Read it. Even if your card looks the same, the plan behind it may not be.

What's new for Medicare in 2027

A few program-wide updates apply no matter which plan you're looking at:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). Once your drug spending hits that limit in 2027, you pay nothing more for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Plans can set a lower deductible, but none can go higher.
• No more donut hole. Since 2025, Part D has three phases instead of four. The old coverage gap is gone.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. This is an optional program that lets you spread your yearly drug costs into monthly payments instead of paying big bills at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges — the higher-income premium adjustments for Parts B and D — kick in above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

About Star Ratings in Dane County

CMS publishes Star Ratings each year to give consumers a look at plan quality — things like customer service, member complaints, and preventive care measures. In the current data for the Dane County area, no contracts are rated 4 stars or higher. That doesn't mean plans are bad; it means readers should treat Star Ratings as one input among several, not a shortcut to a decision.

Key dates to circle

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. This is when most people join, switch, or drop Medicare Advantage and Part D plans for the following year.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance during this window to switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare.

Miss those windows and, in most cases, you'll wait until next fall — so if you're on the fence, don't put it off.

Where to get unbiased help in Madison

You don't have to sort through 55 plans alone. Free, unbiased resources include:

• medicare.gov Plan Finder — enter your ZIP, your drugs, and your preferred pharmacies to compare plans side by side.
• 1-800-MEDICARE — available 24/7.
• Wisconsin SHIP (the Medigap Helpline and Board on Aging & Long Term Care) — trained counselors who don't sell plans and don't earn commissions. Every county, including Dane, has SHIP support.