Medicare Advantage

Six Medicare Advantage plans debut in Milwaukee for 2027: how to size up a brand-new plan

People in Milwaukee can choose from 52 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 52 this year. Six of this year’s plans are gone, 6 are new to Milwaukee County, and 31 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 12 of them under a new name.

MILWAUKEE — Shoppers in Milwaukee County will see six Medicare Advantage plans on the shelf for 2027 that were not sold here for 2026, according to the CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Source Files for the current and coming plan years. Three carriers — Elevance Health (Anthem), Humana and UnitedHealthcare — are each adding two plans. The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and any choice you make takes effect January 1, 2027.

A brand-new plan is different from a renewing one in one practical way: it has no track record under its current contract yet. That is not a reason to pick it or avoid it — just a reason to check the details yourself before you sign up.

What "new" means on the 2027 lineup

CMS treats a plan as new when it has a new contract/plan ID for the coming year. In Milwaukee County, 6 plans are new for 2027, 6 are not returning, and 12 are being renamed. If you do nothing and your current plan is offered again next year, it renews automatically with the changes spelled out in your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), which plans mail in late September.

The six new plans for Milwaukee County, listed alphabetically by carrier:

• Anthem Dual Advantage Plus (HMO D-SNP) — Elevance Health (Anthem); with drug coverage
• Anthem Full Dual Advantage (HMO D-SNP) — Elevance Health (Anthem); with drug coverage
• Humana Value Choice (PPO) — Humana; with drug coverage
• HumanaChoice - Diabetes and Heart (PPO C-SNP) — Humana; with drug coverage
• UHC Complete Care WI-21 (HMO-POS C-SNP) — UnitedHealthcare; with drug coverage
• UHC Dual Complete WI-S1 (HMO-POS D-SNP) — UnitedHealthcare; with drug coverage

The table on this page lists every Medicare Advantage plan offered in Milwaukee County for 2027, including the ones that are renewing and the ones that are not returning.

The plan types in plain English

The six new plans come in three shapes:

• HMO generally asks you to use the plan's network and pick a primary care doctor. HMO-POS adds a limited "point of service" option to go out of network for certain services.
• PPO lets you see out-of-network providers, usually at a higher cost share.
• A Special Needs Plan (SNP) is a Medicare Advantage plan limited to people who meet certain criteria. A D-SNP is for people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. A C-SNP is for people with a specific chronic condition — in the case of the new HumanaChoice - Diabetes and Heart plan, the name tells you who it is designed for.

Four of the six new plans are SNPs (three D-SNPs and one C-SNP). If you are not dual-eligible or do not have the qualifying condition, you cannot enroll in that SNP, no matter how it looks on paper.

How a new plan differs from a renewing one

A renewing plan carries a history: Star Ratings, prior member experience, and a provider and drug lineup that existed last year. A new plan does not yet have a Star Rating under its current contract — CMS assigns ratings based on data that has to be collected first. This is a program fact, not a strike against the plan. Some new plans are rebuilds or spin-offs from existing products, and others are built around a specific population (as with the new C-SNP and D-SNPs on this list).

What matters for your decision is the same for any plan, new or returning:

• Is your doctor, clinic or hospital in the network?
• Are your prescriptions on the formulary, and at what tier?
• What are the monthly premium, deductible and copays?
• What extras (dental, vision, hearing, OTC) are included, and are there restrictions on how you use them?

Those answers live in the plan's Evidence of Coverage, its provider directory and its formulary — not in a summary flyer.

How to vet a new plan before December 7

Here is a straightforward way to check any of the six new plans — or any plan — against your own situation during the Annual Enrollment Period:

1. Pull your prescription list. Include dose and how often you take each one. 2. List your providers. Primary care, specialists, preferred hospital, pharmacy. 3. Go to medicare.gov/plan-compare. Sign in (or continue as a guest) and enter your ZIP code. Milwaukee is in Milwaukee County, and the Plan Finder will show you every Medicare Advantage plan available there for 2027. 4. Enter your drugs and your pharmacy. The Plan Finder will estimate your yearly drug cost under each plan and flag any drug that is not covered. 5. Check providers. Click into a plan and use its network search, or call the plan to confirm your doctor is in-network for 2027 specifically — networks can change year to year. 6. Read the Summary of Benefits for the two or three plans you are seriously considering. If one is a SNP, confirm you qualify. 7. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048, 24/7) if you want to talk a decision through with someone who does not sell plans.

If your current plan is renewing and still fits, you do not have to do anything — but it is still worth reading the ANOC to see what is changing for 2027.

A few 2027 program numbers to keep in mind

Some pieces of Medicare are set by CMS, not by any plan. For 2027, CMS has confirmed:

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

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, had not been published as of this writing; CMS typically announces them in the fall.