Medicare Advantage 2027 Plan Competition and Market Insights
October 13, 2026
With the 2027 Annual Election Period (AEP) underway, Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations are preparing to compete for enrollment in one of the healthcare industry's most dynamic markets. The MA landscape includes national health plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates, regional insurers, and specialized Medicare companies. As of September 2026, MA enrollment stands at nearly 36.3 million beneficiaries. Although Medicare Advantage has established a strong presence among Medicare beneficiaries, considerable growth opportunities remain, with 51.7% of the estimated 70.3 million Medicare-eligible population currently enrolled in MA coverage. This brief provides an overview of the 2027 Medicare Advantage market, drawing on insights from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Landscape reports and Mark Farrah Associates’ Medicare Benefits Analyzer™.
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have added approximately 3.6 million members over the past three years, reflecting continued growth in the program. Meanwhile, the 2027 Annual Election Period (AEP) for MA and Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) is currently underway, running from October 15 through December 7. Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, an MFA database, helps simplify analysis of the Medicare.gov data for companies competing in this segment.
2027 Medicare Advantage Market: Key Trends and Insights
Based on an aggregate analysis of CMS Landscape reports, a total of 5,884 distinct MA plan offerings is in the market lineup for the 2027 AEP. This includes MA plans, MA with prescription drug plans (MAPDs), stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs), and Special Needs Plans (SNPs). During the AEP, Medicare beneficiaries can choose to change MA plans or switch from Original Medicare to MA for plan benefits effective on January 1, 2027. As indicated in the charts below:
- A total of 3,592 MA and MAPD plans are being offered for 2027, a decrease from the 3,795 plans offered for 2026.
- Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) continue to be the dominant MA plan type with 2,115 offerings; 59% of MA plans for the coming year.
- Local Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan offerings declined from 1,553 in 2026 to 1,389 in 2027, representing a 10.6% year-over-year decrease.
- A total of 3,203 or 89% of total MA plans, include Part D benefits.
- Special Needs Plans (SNPs) continue to expand, with 1,969 plans offered in 2027 compared to 1,803 in 2026, marking a 9.2% increase. SNPs are the only plan category experiencing year-over-year growth.
- Nationwide stand-alone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) offerings declined from 367 plans in 2026 to 323 plans in 2027, representing a 12.0% year-over-year decrease and continuing the trend toward fewer stand-alone PDP options in the market.
Source: Mark Farrah Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data from CMS Medicare Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
2027 Medicare Advantage Premium Distribution
Per the chart below, 70% of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for 2027, excluding Special Needs Plans (SNPs), are offered with monthly premiums below $2. An additional 14% of plans have premiums ranging from $2 to $50 per month. Only 60 plans, representing approximately 2% of all offerings, charge monthly premiums exceeding $200. These higher-premium plans typically provide enhanced benefit packages with lower cost-sharing requirements, resulting in relatively low expected out-of-pocket expenses for enrollees.
Source: Mark Farrah Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data from CMS Medicare Plan Finder and Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
2027 MA Plan Market Competition
- According to the 2027 CMS Medicare Landscape Source Files, Humana remained the largest Medicare Advantage carrier by plan count, offering 621 plans, despite reducing its portfolio by 32 plans year over year. UnitedHealth and CVS Health also scaled back their offerings for 2027, with 490 and 470 plans available, respectively.
- Devoted Health significantly expanded its Medicare Advantage (MA) footprint for 2027, increasing its plan offerings from 241 in 2026 to 407 plans. This growth was driven by the company's expansion into four new states, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York, as well as the addition of new plan offerings across markets where it already had an established presence.
- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) reduced its Medicare Advantage plan offerings from 232 plans in 2026 to 149 plans in 2027. This decline comes despite the company's acquisition of Cigna's Medicare Advantage business in 2025, suggesting ongoing portfolio consolidation and market realignment following the transaction.
- Centene is offering 110 MA plans for 2027, while Elevance Health has 164 plans.
- Highmark (101) and Kaiser Permanente (100) round out the remaining leaders in the 2027 market line-up. All the top 9 players other than Devoted Health decreased plan offerings for 2027.
Source: Mark Farrah Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data from CMS Medicare.gov and Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
Medicare Benefits AnalyzerTM for Comparing Medicare Benefits
Analysts often use benefits data from the Medicare.gov website to compare plan premiums, copays, and star quality rating awards, market-by-market. Identifying plan-by-plan benefits details such as annual Out-of-Pocket Limits and Deductibles; Primary Care Doctor Visit Copays; Specialist Doctor Visit Copays; Inpatient Hospital Copays; Ambulance and Emergency Room Copays; Drug Tier Copays and, new for 2027, plan enrollment cap information that helps companies to assess competitive advantages across markets. This type of comparative analysis provides invaluable intelligence that prepares Medicare plans to promote and sell their products.
To help Medicare plans access and use Medicare.gov data more efficiently, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) maintains this data in its Medicare Benefits AnalyzerTM product. Benefits detail for 2027 is online now, along with Star Quality Ratings. Subscribers may query tables presenting plan benefit comparisons by state and county or download large datasets using the file export interface. Subscribers also have access to Medicare Business Online™ for tracking month-to-month Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan enrollment changes. Visit our website at www.markfarrah.com or call 724-338-4100 for more information.
About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)
Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, 5500 Employer Health plus, ASO Employer Health plus, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the product pages and brochures available under the Our Products section of the website (www.markfarrah.com) or call 724-338-4100.
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