Medicare Advantage

Wellcare's 2027 Medicare Advantage plans in Madison: the full Dane County roster

MADISON, Wis. — Fall 2026. Wellcare's 2027 Medicare Advantage lineup for Dane County is set, and if you have a Wellcare plan in Madison, two of the three plan names on your paperwork have changed for next year. The plans themselves are still being offered — only the names are different — but it is worth knowing before you open the mail.

Here is what Wellcare is offering in the county that includes Madison for the plan year that begins January 1, 2027, and how to check any of it against your own doctors and prescriptions before the December 7, 2026 deadline.

What Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans are offered in Madison for 2027?

Wellcare is offering 3 Medicare Advantage plans in Dane County, the county that includes Madison, for 2027. All three are HMO-POS plans and all three include Part D prescription drug coverage. Two of the three are Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), which are designed for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid.

The carrier is listed by CMS as Centene (WellCare). The table below lists every plan by its exact 2027 name, plan type and drug-coverage status. For 2027 the three Wellcare plans in the county are:

• Wellcare MHS Health Wisconsin Dual Liberty Sync (HMO-POS D-SNP)
• Wellcare MHS Health Wisconsin Dual Select (HMO-POS D-SNP)
• Wellcare Simple (HMO-POS)

MyMedicarePlans.org is an independent consumer site; we are not Wellcare and not Medicare. Nine other carriers also offer Medicare Advantage plans in Dane County for 2027, for a county total of 48 plans.

What is new or not returning from Wellcare in Dane County for 2027?

Nothing is leaving and nothing is brand new, but two plan names changed. Wellcare is not pulling any plans out of the county for 2027 and is not adding any new ones. Two of its three plans were renamed:

• Wellcare MHS Health Wisconsin Dual Liberty Sync (HMO-POS D-SNP) was previously called Wellcare Dual Access Sync (HMO-POS D-SNP).
• Wellcare MHS Health Wisconsin Dual Select (HMO-POS D-SNP) was previously called Wellcare Dual Reserve (HMO-POS D-SNP).

A rename does not, by itself, change what a plan costs or covers. The specifics for your plan — any changes to premium, deductible, drug tiers, network or extra benefits — are in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your plan is required to send you by the end of September.

What do HMO-POS and D-SNP mean on a Wellcare plan?

HMO-POS is a Health Maintenance Organization with a Point-of-Service option. You generally use the plan's network of doctors and hospitals, but the "POS" piece lets the plan cover certain services out of network under rules the plan sets. You usually need a primary care doctor and referrals for specialists.

A D-SNP is a Dual Special Needs Plan, a type of Medicare Advantage plan limited to people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. If you do not have Medicaid, you cannot enroll in a D-SNP. The two Wellcare D-SNPs listed above are both HMO-POS plans with drug coverage built in.

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

The most reliable place to check is the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov. Enter your ZIP code and your prescription drugs, and the tool will show you each plan's estimated yearly drug cost, its formulary tier for each of your medicines, and the pharmacies in its preferred network. You can also save your drug list to a secure account so you don't have to retype it.

A few steps worth doing before you decide:

• Read the ANOC your current plan mailed you and note any change to premium, deductible, drug tiers or extra benefits for 2027.
• Call each of your doctors' offices and ask whether they will be in-network for the specific 2027 plan you are considering — a renamed plan is still the same contract, but networks can change year to year.
• Check your pharmacy and each prescription on medicare.gov's Plan Finder, and look at both the "preferred" and "standard" pharmacy columns.
• If you want a person to walk through it with you, call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), which is open 24/7.

When is Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 coverage?

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any change you make in that window takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan simply renews for 2027 if it is still being offered, with the changes described in the ANOC.

There is a second window called the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 through March 31, 2027. During that window, people already in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan one time or go back to Original Medicare.

What is changing with Part D drug coverage in 2027?

Two program-level Part D numbers are confirmed for 2027. The annual out-of-pocket cap on covered Part D drugs rises to $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026). The maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge rises to $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026). Many plans set a lower deductible than the maximum.

The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") was eliminated as of 2025, so Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage and catastrophic. The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is still available in 2027; it lets you spread your Part D out-of-pocket costs across monthly payments rather than paying at the pharmacy counter.

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