Medicare Advantage

Sheridan Medicare 2026: What Local Options Look Like

If you live in Sheridan and you're sorting through Medicare for 2027, the first thing to know is how many doors are actually open to you locally. That's a fair question, and the answer is public information posted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Sheridan, Wyoming — A quick look at your 2027 Medicare choices

Sheridan is in Sheridan County, where 2 Medicare Advantage plans were offered for the 2026 plan year, from 1 carrier. Wyoming has 11 stand-alone Part D plans for 2026, sold statewide, per the CMS Part D Landscape file. The 2027 lineup is in each plan's ANOC and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

That's a smaller menu than you'd see in a big metro area, but it doesn't mean your options end there. Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) is available to every eligible person in the country, and Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies are sold by private insurers across Wyoming. Below, we'll walk through what those numbers mean and where to go for personal help.

What the local count actually tells you

The plan counts above come from the CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape data, which is refreshed each fall before the Annual Enrollment Period. A few things worth understanding:

• Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans are offered by private insurers approved by Medicare. In Sheridan County, 2 were available for 2026; the 2027 lineup is in each plan's ANOC and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.
• Stand-alone Part D plans are separate drug-only plans that pair with Original Medicare. Wyoming has 11 stand-alone Part D plans for 2026, sold statewide, and residents can compare them through Medicare.gov's Plan Finder. If you rely on Original Medicare and need drug coverage, that's the tool to use, and the 2027 lineup is on Plan Finder.
• Carriers offering MA-PD: 1 carrier is providing Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage in the county.
• Star Ratings: 0 contracts serving the area currently carry a rating of 4 stars or higher. Star Ratings are CMS's quality measurement, not a shopping recommendation, and they can shift year to year.

About 7,180 Sheridan County residents are age 65 or older, so this is a meaningful topic for a real slice of the community.

Original Medicare is always on the menu

It's easy to forget when the conversation focuses on Advantage plans: Original Medicare — Part A (hospital) and Part B (medical) — is a nationwide federal program. You don't need a local plan count to get it. Many Sheridan-area retirees pair Original Medicare with a Medigap policy (to help with out-of-pocket costs) and a Part D drug plan (to cover prescriptions).

If the local Advantage menu feels thin, that pathway is worth understanding before you decide.

2027 numbers that apply everywhere

Some of the biggest Medicare changes for 2027 are set at the federal level and apply no matter where you live:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs hits that amount in a given year, you pay nothing more for the rest of the year on covered prescriptions.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. This is an optional program that lets you spread your drug costs into monthly payments across the plan year instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA (the income-related surcharge on Part B and Part D) starts above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Key dates to circle

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7. This is when anyone with Medicare can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for the following year.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 – March 31. If you're already in an Advantage plan, you get one chance during this window to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare (and pick up a Part D plan).

Missing these windows usually means waiting a full year, so it's worth putting them on the calendar.